Identity
by DarkShadow At Midnight
Summary: What Holidays Bring spin off. Masato Takahashi: Human? Miko? Dog demon? Spider demon? All? No one knows, but no one really wants to know except him. Masato was conceived from lust. He was bred through his mother's jealousy and possessiveness; her insanity. When the shadow of Naraku suddenly re-enters the family's lives, Masato is left to chose what part of himself to become.
1. It Takes A Village

**Summary: **What Holidays Bring spin off. Masato Takahashi: Human? Miko? Dog demon? Spider demon? All? Half demon? Full demon? No one knows but no one really wants to know...except him. Masato was conceived from lust. He was bred through his mother's jealousy and possessiveness her insanity. He has to go through darkness and light just to find out WHO he is. Will he choose to remain Masato Takahashi, or will he choose a different path?

**A/N: **So here's the first chapter of Identity! A list of the character's will be listed at the end of the chapter. I hope you all enjoy!

**ALSO**, with so many characters I know this story will get quite overwhelming at times, but please try to understand I'm trying. I'm not b/s'ing this at all. I did not dive into this sort of story blindly. I'm trying my hardest to take on a challenge I _so_ badly want to achieve. Well, at least on an _okay_, or _good_ level. So please, be mature in your critique, and bare with me!

**LASTLY**, drama is the _core_ of this story, but romance is also very deeply set into the mix. Comedy is also an element. The reason I'm telling you all this is because the drama may be the most overwhelming. Please give it a chance is all I ask of you. Reviews, too, of course. Heh. *nudge, nudge*

**Disclaimer: **I don't own InuYasha!

**Identity**

**Chapter 1: **It Takes a Village

* * *

_Drip. Drip. _Inhale. _Drip. _Exhale. _Drip. Drip._

"Would you quit your whining?"

"I'm not whining, InuYas-"

Sick of him, _sick of him_.

**Beast**. _Disgrace_.

_Drip. Drip. _

….you were dead, Masato.

**Ha ha ha**...

"Masato...?"

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

…ish you were dead, Masato!

**HA HA HA**...

"Masato!"

WISH YOU WERE DEAD, MASATO!

_Drip_.

"MASATO!"

_Drip._

"Gr. Would someone fix that damn faucet!? Every fucking night." he growled, kicking off his covers.

Masato was drenched in his own sweat, and his bangs were stuck to his forehead. From how his younger brother, Kazuya, was looking at him, Masato knew he must look worse than he felt. In the doorway of his bedroom stood a tall boy with jet black hair (those dog ears as annoying as ever) much like their mother's, and bright, golden amber eyes like their father's. Or most Takahashi's for that matter.

"_But are you really a Takahashi? Huh? Huh, Masato?" Drip. Drip. Drip._

"Hey, you need to get up and take your meds." Kazuya said, leaning against the doorframe.

Masato shot him a glare, "I get enough of this from Mom and Dad. I don't need this shit from you too. I know what I'm supposed to do every morning. Stop reminding me. You're more of a bitch in the morning than Mom, I swear."

Kazuya's face contorted from concern to rage, "Masato-!"

Masato felt his muscles tense when Kazuya took a step forward, but then stopped. Masato raised an eyebrow,

"What? Gonna chicken out?"

They could both hear the sound of small feet running down the hallway.

"As if. You got lucky." he said bitterly.

A three-year-old girl ran into the room. She had neck length silver hair and dog-ears with black tips, and their mother's gray eyes. She wrapped her arms around Kazuya's leg,

"Big brudder, you not going to school! You stay with Mai?"

Kazuya's frown was replaced with a smile, and then he looked down, "Sorry, Mai. I gotta go to school. I promise I'll play with you when I get home, okay?"

Mai pouted, "But Daddy alwedy wit to work, and tits boring!"

"It's, Mai. It's." Kazuya said, running a hand over his face.

Masato laughed. Mai smiled, running over to him and trying to climb up onto his bed. He smiled, picking her up,

"You always know how to make my day, Mai."

She giggled when he gave her a kiss on the cheek. Mai asked,

"Are you staying with Mai? No school?"

"I wish, but I can't." he said. "Tell you what, I'll play with you for a bit before I go."

"Yay!" she exclaimed.

He set her on the floor, "Go get what you want to play with, and I'll meet you downstairs."

"Kay!" she said, running off.

Masato got up, and stretched. Kazuya watched him, still standing in the doorway. Masato took off his shirt as he walked over to his closet,

"You staying to watch me get dressed, or what?"

Kazuya didn't say anything. He just turned, and walked out, slamming the door behind him. Masato gave a laugh, and then continued to undress. Nobody got that it irritated him when they questioned if he did this, or that. Masato had no reason to not take his medication. Did they think he wanted to be this way? If he didn't take it, it was because he'd forgotten. However, that was rare. It'd only happened twice in the seven years he'd been on the pills.

Kagome was never convinced, though. She overreacted whenever he nonchalantly said he would eventually, and that always led to an argument. If Kagome so much as whimpered, his dad or Kazuya jumped in, and all hell would break loose. With all the yelling, Mai would then crying, and that'd end it. If Mai wasn't around, more often than not, a fight would break out. An actual fight. It was never between his father and him, but him and Kazuya.

Masato kicked his closet door closed once he was dressed, and then headed into his bathroom. He didn't bother with his bed hair, and just brushed his teeth. Masato sighed at his reflection. As usual, he had bags under his eyes, his ebony black hair fell into his maroon eyes, which seemed to stare at him with unintended malice. Masato widened his eyes slightly, and his maroon eyes brightened to a dull crimson. It was hard, but if he didn't frown, he wasn't _that_ intimidating. Still intimidating, but not _that_ intimidating.

Masato jumped when he suddenly heard an extremely loud, and deep laugh. It was followed by a woman, hissing insults, and cursing his very existence. Masato watched his own pupils dilate in his reflection. He leaned against the counter, and clenched at the cold surface. From left to right, front to back, he heard voices. A male and female, joining together to give him his daily dose of torment. It hadn't been just Sky for a long time now. If it wasn't him, it was Echo. She'd joined him only a couple years ago. Masato had had to be hospitalized for almost a month, because it'd gotten so bad.

Snapping out of it, he yanked one of the drawers out, and slammed it onto the counter. Seeing how much crap there was, he growled under his breath, and then flipped the drawer over, letting all of its contents fall out. When he spotted his bottle of pills, Masato quickly picked up the bottle, and opened it. He took out a pill, and then popped it into his mouth. Masato easily swallowed it. He turned on the cold water, and then cupped his hands underneath the faucet. Once there was a pool of water, he brought it up, and then splashed it on his face.

"Masato!" he heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

Masato straightened his posture, and then grabbed a towel. He called,

"I'm coming, Mai! Wait downstairs!"

Masato heard her footsteps stop, and after a while, heard them go back downstairs. He sighed, and then dried his face. Masato shoved all of the stuff he'd thrown out back into the drawer, and then slid it back into its place. He didn't allow himself to look back into the mirror. Instead, he hurried out of the bathroom, and out of his room. Masato made his way downstairs, and was immediately met by Mai in the hall leading into the living room. She grabbed his hand, and tried to pull him along the best she could with her small hands. Masato managed to smile, and laugh,

"Hold your horses, Mai."

"Hurry, hurry!" she beckoned.

Masato let her lead him into the living room. He saw a ton of Legos scattered across the floor. She stopped, and then smiled up at him,

"Bwild wit me, big brudder!"

"Alright." he said with a smile, walking over, and plopped down on the floor.

Mai ran over, and sat beside him. She started to stack the blocks. Masato grabbed the blocks, and then started to stack them with her. Footsteps padded into the living room, and then paused,

"Masato, doesn't the tardy bell ring at 8:30?"

"Yeah, your point?" he asked.

Kagome sighed, crossing her arms, "It's already 8:15, and you takes at least ten minutes to get to the school. You also have to consider the fact you have to go to your locker."

"Mom, I know. I'm only going to play with her for ten minutes at least." he said with a sigh.

Kagome huffed, blowing her bangs off her forehead. She studied Masato, and watched as he connected the Legos. His hands shook some, and she took a step closer. Kagome asked,

"Are you okay this morning? Don't get upset! I just want to make sure, Masato."

He stopped, and then looked back at his mother. Kagome looked at him with worriedly, and he sighed. Masato knew she was only doing what a mother should, but this temper of his...it was hard to control. He sometimes got so angry over the stupidest things. Sometimes, they even had to keep Mai away from whenever it seemed like he was having a bad episode. Despite how much it hurt to know they think he'd hurt her, it was for the best, because Masato knew he would not be able to live with knowing he'd hurt his baby sister.

"I took my pill." he replied, looking back to the blocks. "I...can hear them, but it'll go away eventually. Just give me a minute before letting me drive Kazuya and I to school, will ya?"

Kagome gave a small smile, and then nodded, "Okay. If you need, I could call the school if you think you'll be late, or...drive you myself."

"It's okay, Mom." Masato replied. "This isn't any different from any other morning. Don't worry."

He looked at her, and smiled to the best of his ability. Kagome searched his face, and knew the last thing he wanted to do was force smiles for her. She just nodded,

"Okay."

Masato turned back to Mai, and the blocks. For the next fifteen minutes, he focused on helping her build a building that looked like a miniature skyscraper. Mai placed the last block at the top, and then clapped her hands,

"We did it!"

"That's right. I think you might be a promising architect in the future." Masato said with a grin.

Mai cocked her head at him curiously, her small dog-ears perking up with interest, "Artitect?"

"Architect." he corrected with a laugh as he got to his feet. "They're people that draw the designs of buildings, and make them happen."

Mai made an 'o' with her mouth, but she quickly got distracted seeing him pick up his backpack that was by the backdoor. She whined,

"No, big brudder. Stay."

"Maiko," Kagome started gently, walking over, and then picking her up, "don't you want to have fun with Mommy?"

Kazuya came down stairs, backpack already at his shoulder. He walked over and gently rustled her hair up,

"Don't cry. We're going to be back, silly. Is Mom not cool enough for you?"

She just looked at him with a poked out bottom lip. Kagome gave a pout herself,

"Oh, I see. You don't like Mommy anymore?"

Mai's looked up at her mother, and then laid her head on her shoulder. She mumbled,

"I just miss big brudder, and other big brudder, and Daddy, and Mommy, and Mai togathar."

"I know, sweetie." Kagome said, kissing her forehead. "But you know they'll be back. Until then, we can go to the park, or stay home and cook. You like cooking, don't you?

"Mm." she nodded.

Kazuya laughed, "Then have some fun cooking until we get home. We'll eat whatever you made for us."

"Really?" she asked with wide eyes.

He smiled, "Sure."

Kagome smiled, "Alright. Tell your big brothers bye."

She followed the both of them to the door. Mai waved, watching as her brothers headed toward Masato's car,

"Bye, bye!"

They both smiled, and waved back at her before getting into the car. Masato started it up, and then backed out of the driveway. After a couple of minutes of silence, Kazuya glanced over at his brother before speaking,

"Masato?"

"Mm?" Masato grunted, not taking his eyes off the road.

Kazuya took in a breath, "You know I don't try and remind you about the pills to piss you off, right?"

"Oh really? I was sure that was what it was." Masato said.

Kazuya retorted, "I don't-!"

"Relax, Kazuya." Masato said with a grin. "I'm just messing with you. I don't care. Just...I can wake myself up in the morning, and take my pill. Back off. All of you. Nobody gets hurt that way, right?"

He glanced at him, and then back at the road. Kazuya stared at him for a moment, contemplating trying to reason with him that it was only because they were worried, but he knew how short of a temper Masato had. Almost as bad as their father's. So he sighed, and admitted defeat.

**With Kita: A Few Hours Later**

_Dear Mrs. Takahashi,_

_This letter is in regards to your request to view the notes of Masato Takahashi. I would firstly like to tell you how honored I am to know someone of your caliber would be interested in seeing my notes. I'm a bit surprised you would not want to evaluate such a young man yourself. However, I suppose it is understandable to not want to examine someone close to you, yes? _

_Masato has been one of my toughest cases in all my years as a psychologist, but I would like to say that he has gotten quite far in these past seven years with his disorder. Of course, there are times where it seems his schizophrenia is seemingly haywire, and uncontrollable. However, there are also times in the year I wonder if he's been miraculously cured. That's never the case, of course, but I like to let him hope. Being a demon, we know these situations are never the same as they would be for humans. _

_In the past two years, he has had periods within the year where he will not hear the voices for almost a month or two, and then they would come back. I worry, though. It seems each time he relapses, the episodes are worse than his previous small ones. It worries me. Perhaps it is getting worse? Or maybe it is a climax to his illness? _

_Anyway, I have copied all of my notes from just last winter, and up until now. I hope you find whatever it is you are looking for. If you have any questions, you have my contacts. _

_Dr. Riko Akiyama, PsyD. _

Kita set the note aside, and then pulled the rest of the papers out of the folder. She looked through them all. Masato's episodes were like weather; unpredictable, and seemingly unmanageable. She wondered if it could be that he did not take his medication as directed, but Kagome had been so positive that he was. Why wouldn't he after all? He hated this more than any of them did. There as a soft ding, and Kita pushed all the paper's back into its envelope.

She looked up, and watched as the elevator doors opened. Kita started to head down the hall that she knew led to Sesshomaru's office. The sound of clicking heels approached her,

"Mrs. Takahashi."

Kita stopped, and looked over to see that it was one of the secretaries from the front desk. She gave a smile,

"Yeah?"

"Mr. Takahashi is in a meeting right now, and he told me to tell you he does not know how long it will be." she said.

Kita sighed hearing this. She could imagine whatever he told this secretary was a lot ruder. Probably something like, '_See that she does not search for me_.' Kita couldn't help laughing at the thought. The secretary blinked at her, and gave her a confused gaze. Kita cleared her throat, and smiled,

"Okay. Thank you."

The woman gave a bow, and Kita continued down the hall. She hoped InuYasha, or Miroku weren't so busy. Kita had come all the way down here to eat lunch with her brute of a mate, but of course this would happen. Of all things he could've done (e.g. call; send a quick text message), he left a message with a secretary. She'd wasted her time coming down here.

After turning a few corners, Kita came to Miroku's door first. She gave a knock, and after a moment heard Miroku call for her to enter. She walked in, and smiled seeing he wasn't alone. InuYasha sat at the couch, and Sango sat in a chair next to Miroku.

"I wasn't expecting you to be here Sango." Kita said, walking over, and then plopping down next to InuYasha.

She smiled, "You think you're the only one that visits her husband during lunch?"

"Hm." Kita grinned, and then glanced at InuYasha.

He glared at her, "I told Kagome not to come in, because Mai will destroy everything. Remember the first, and last time she came here?"

Sango giggled behind her hand as she chewed her food. Once she finished, she spoke,

"You mean, when _you_ let her out of your sight?"

"It was only for one second!" he retorted heatedly.

Miroku grinned, "Sesshomaru was not pleased to see his niece running into one of his meetings. You're pretty lucky InuTaisho was there."

"Yeah." Sango said with a smile. "Sesshomaru might have sicked the guards on her."

"I wish the bastard would have." InuYasha said.

Kita laughed, shaking her head, "Watch her, and you won't have to worry."

"Says the mother who lost her kid for three days." InuYasha grumbled, picking up the bowl of ramen that'd been sitting on the table in front of the couch.

The room got quiet. Kita's posture straightened, and she looked at her brother in law with threatening eyes. He ignored her, and slurped up his noodles. A twitch of a smile came onto her face, and she raised her hand, smacking him on the back. He started to choke on his noodles. Kita continued whacking him on the back,

"Ha...hahahaha! You're so funny, InuYasha!"

"Hey, cut it out!" he coughed, slamming his bowl down, and then shoving her arm away from him.

Sango laughed, "Not something you should bring up, InuYasha."

"Well all you bastards like to judge my parenting, but don't look at your own reflection." he ranted angrily, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "When Kiyomi was Mai's age, she disappeared when both Kita and Sesshomaru were home. Perfectly capable of keeping an eye on her. To make it worse, they couldn't find her for three days, and you wonder why she acts like Sesshomaru now."

"InuYasha." Kita glared, pursing her lip in agitation.

"Don't get me started on Yukio." InuYasha continued. "He's worse than Sesshomaru was in high school. Seventeen, and has probably slept with at least three girls already."

"Lies!" Kita exclaimed. "There has only been one girl, and it was because he made a poor choice."

"And you know what they say." Miroku blurted into the conversation.

Sango gave her husband a side-glance, praying he didn't say something inappropriate. Miroku had a smile so bright, you'd think he won the lottery,

"Curiosity killed the cat, but _satisfaction_ brought it back."

Sango smacked her forehead with her hand, sighing heavily, "Miroku..."

InuYasha burst out laughing. Kita pouted,

"That isn't funny."

"Didn't you say there was an argument between him and Sesshomaru when you two found out? He wasn't exactly regretful despite the fact he got into trouble." InuYasha said, wiping some tears that'd fallen from laughing.

She sighed, "I blame you men. He grew up hearing so many jokes like that, it's no wonder-"

"Keh." InuYasha interrupted. "I'm not perverted. No one is as perverted as Miroku."

"Perverted?" Miroku blinked in surprise like this was news. "I merely made an analogy that fit with what happened with Yukio. He's nearly an adult. I don't understand why it's so surprising that it happened? It was bound to. At least he was safe, right?"

"Oh?" Kita asked. "Then you'll be okay when Iva, or Nori, lose it to some guy? So long as they were safe, right?"

"Oh Kami, no!" A horrified look crossed his face, but it quickly smoothed out to a smile. "My girls are responsible. They aren't even thinking of boyfriends right now. Iva and Nori are focused on completing school, and training."

Sango crossed her arms, "What about Natsu? I warned you about that double standard way of thinking, Miroku. If they were here, and heard that, they'd be very upset with you. If you expect something, then it has to be from all of them. Not just the girls."

"But Iva and Nori are babies." he protested.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, "Iva is the oldest, Miroku. Natsu and Nori are the babies."

"Yes, but I really don't have to worry about Natsu. Like me, even though he can seem a bit...charming toward women, he already has his eyes set on one person." he said with a smile.

The room got quiet. Sango sat her apple on her paper lunch bag, and looked at her husband with a bewildered expression,

"What? What's that supposed to mean? He has a crush on someone?"

"Ah.."

She retorted, "What do you mean _ah_!? Who is it?"

"Good job, Miroku." InuYasha said, shaking his head.

Kita laughed at the distressed look on his face; Sango continued to pry information from him. It wasn't going to be good if Sango confronted Natsu upfront. Kita sighed. Natsu should have known not to rely on his father. She turned her attention away from them, and then looked at InuYasha,

"So how's Kagome?"

InuYasha looked at Kita. He slurped the rest of his noodles down, and then grunted,

"If you're going to ask about Masato, just ask."

"Uh..." she raised an eyebrow. "I thought I asked about Kagome?"

"That's usually code you're gonna bring him up." InuYasha said.

She sighed, "Fine. I got the letter from his psychologist, and I looked at his notes."

"So what?" he asked, turning toward her slightly. "What do you think?"

"Well," she looked at the envelope that sat on the table, "it's really hard for me to tell, InuYasha. After all, these are just notes. I'm not his psychologist."

"Then become his psychologist." InuYasha retorted. "I don't know how many times I gotta ask you."

"And for the upteenth time," she retorted just as fast, "no. I can't do that. Not only is it not recommended to treat family members, but-"

"Bull." InuYasha growled. "It took you, and everyone else, a hell of a time to even acknowledge Masato. He's barely family to you. Better news to you, he's barely blood relation to the Takahashi's. He doesn't have to be anything to you if you don't want him to be, so I don't get why you won't treat him."

"I do acknowledge him as family. Yes, I didn't until long after his first birthday, but I eventually got there." Kita said, breathing slowly so she didn't get angry. "It was hard for everyone. Knowing his true father..."

"Tell that to the woman that easily accepted him as her kid." InuYasha said, standing. "Keh, forget it."

The door opened, and the chatter that'd filled the room silenced. Sesshomaru stood in the doorway with his eyes locked on InuYasha. The way he looked at him, InuYasha knew he'd heard the conversation. He frowned back at him, and then shoved his hands into his pockets. InuYasha left the room, brushing past his half brother none too lightly. Sesshomaru did nothing more but watch him walk off down the hall. He looked back into the room at Kita. She sighed, grabbing the envelope, and then standing.

Kita cleared her throat, and then smiled at Sango and Miroku, "I'll see you guys later."

"Alright." Sango said.

Miroku gave her a desperate look, but Kita just grinned before heading out of the room. Sesshomaru left ahead of her. She followed him down the hall, and into his office.

"Isn't it well past your break?" Sesshomaru asked as he walked over to his desk.

Kita stopped, and put her hand on her hip, "Well, for your information, my last patient cancelled today's appointment. Are you trying to get rid of me, or something? I'm starting to wonder if you're having some sort of affair. You never want me around."

She pouted.

"As if I'd put myself through the trials of an affair again." he said simply.

Kita couldn't help but to laugh at that. She walked over, and hopped up onto his desk. Sesshomaru looked at the envelope in her hand. She sighed,

"It's Masato's files as I'm sure you've heard, mister eavesdropper."

"If you do not plan to assist the boy, then keep out of it, Hoshi." Sesshomaru lectured, looking toward his computer screen. "It's not your problem to deal with."

"Even if you don't acknowledge him as your nephew, Sesshomaru," Kita replied, "he's still InuYasha's son. I only give my opinion based on what I get from Masato's psychologist. Plus, it takes a village to raise a child, right? Why shouldn't I help a little? Helping has always been a thing in our family. Even if Miroku and Sango's kids aren't related to ours by blood, I wouldn't hesitate to help them."

Sesshomaru ignored all her rambling. He didn't look back at her, but narrowed his eyes at his computer screen. She wondered if he was going to lecture her some more, but he said nothing. Figures. Sesshomaru only ever gives his opinion, expects everyone to think it law, and that be the end of it. When she saw how fixated he was on the computer screen, Kita glanced at it, and then back at him,

"How was your meeting? I heard about the new possible merging. Good news, right?"

He still said nothing. Kita observed him some more, and noticed he seemed a bit tense. Agitated, even. She turned to try, and spy on the e-mail he was reading to only have him close out of it. Kita pursed her lips, and then looked back at him to see him watching her.

"What?" she asked. "I only wondered what you were reading that was irritating you so much. You're being unusually secretive today."

"I am not being secretive. You're a psychologist," he replied, "I have no doubt you know what confidentiality is."

"Yeah, but you've never minded me reading your emails before." she said matter of factly.

"I never gave you permission to read my emails."

Kita smiled, "Oh. Right."

The door to Sesshomaru's office opened, and Kita looked back to see InuTaisho. She smiled,

"Oh, hey InuTaisho!"

Anytime she'd seen him, InuTaisho would at least grin, greet her, and ask how her day was going. However, today, he only gave her a nod before looking at Sesshomaru,

"I want you in my office in five minutes."

With that, he turned, and left the room. Kita felt a shiver go up her spine. It was that same feeling you got when you knew something bad was about to happen. She felt Sesshomaru shift, and looked back toward him to see him stand. Kita grabbed his sleeve before he could walk away,

"What did you do? He looks really pissed off."

"I've done nothing." he said, taking her hand from his sleeve.

Kita blinked at him, "I was only joking, Sesshomaru."

She didn't know what the issue was, but Kita figured she better back off for now.

"I'll just see you when you get home." she said, giving him a smile.

Sesshomaru looked at her, but gave a nod. Kita leaned up on her tip-toes, and placed a kiss on his cheek. When he left, Kita sighed. Why was everyone in such a bad mood today?

"_Guess I'll head home_." she thought before heading out herself.

**Shikon High School: Lunchtime **

The sound of loud talking, laughter, and screeching cicadas could be heard across the schools courtyard. In the furthest end of the courtyard sat a table surrounded by nine people. A boy with shoulder length silver hair that was pulled back into a ponytail grinned behind a single card. A pair of arms wrapped around one of his, and squeezed,

"Throw it down already, Yukio."

Yukio glanced over at the blonde sitting next to him. She looked up at him with bright blue eyes, and a pearly white smile. His grinned widened,

"Patience, Seika. I want to draw the tense atmosphere out. Can't you feel it?"

Seika giggled, "Yeah, I guess."

"For gods sake, Yukio!" Masato spat angrily, throwing his cards down onto the table.

"Alright, alright. Uno, annnd...I win! Hah!" he laughed.

A bunch of groans could be heard amongst the table. Iva dropped her cards on the table, glaring at Yukio, and Seika who looked glued to Yukio's side,

"I hate this new _version_ of Uno. Why can't you just play by the actual rules?"

"All you're doing is keeping all the numbers in a certain order." Yukio replied. "No one forced you to play."

"I played because there's nothing better to do." Iva grumbled. "There's barely a month of school left, and the teacher's are going easy on us until it's time to review for exams."

"Nerd." Yukio said.

Seika laughed. Yukio grinned as he started to collect all the cards, and then shuffle them. Iva felt the urge to mimic the girl's ridiculously obnoxious laugh, but stopped herself,

"_Maturity, Iva. Maturity._"

Regardless, Iva really wanted to snap. Instead, she silently fumed, and ran her fingers through her boy cut brown hair, wondering if it was flying again with all this wind today.

"Better a nerd than a manwhore." Kazuya spoke up, grinning when he got his cousin's attention.

Yukio didn't glare, but grinned some more, "Who has the higher GPA again?"

Kazuya's grin fell.

"Oh, oh! I know." a petite girl with light red hair and dog ears, and jade green eyes said excitedly, her ears upward in excitement.

Yukio raised an eyebrow, "You know what?"

"The person with the higher GPA." she answered.

He looked confused, "We just settled that, Renata."

"No." she said, rolling her eyes and laughing at him like he was silly, and then picking up an apple. "I was saying this apple had the highest GPA."

Kazuya laughed even though that was partially an insult to him, "Nice one, Rena."

"Thank you. Thank you." she said, giving a bow."

Yukio gave a heavily sarcastic laugh before beginning to pass the cards out again.

"What type of Uno are we playing next?" asked Kazuya, picking up Renata's apple and taking a bite out of it.

She frowned, "That was mine..."

"Oh." he looked at her, offering it to her. "You want it back?"

Renata glared at him, and he just grinned.

"I say a regular game." Nori said as she gazed at herself in a silver compact mirror.

She examined her violet eye, and then her long, back length black hair.

"As if you'll win when you're just gonna stare at your reflection all day." Masato said.

Nori closed the mirror, and then dropped it into her purse, "I thought I felt an eyelash in my eye."

"Un huh."

She stuck her tongue at him, and he gave her the finger. Nori gasped,

"Masato!"

"Don't get her worked up, Masato." said the boy sitting right beside her.

He was a complete identical to Nori minus the feminine features, long hair, floral fragrance, and pink painted, sequin covered nails. Masato held his hand up when he gave him a look,

"I can't help it, Natsu. It's pretty funny when she gets mad. It's like watching a puppy bark at a shark, or something."

"Because that's perfectly logical, dummy." she retorted.

Masato asked, "Why not?"

"Because_ puppy's_ can't breathe _underwater_!" Nori yelled, her face flushing pink.

He grinned, "What if it's a demon?"

"We're talking about animal's, Masato!"

"Yukio's not an animal? I mean, he's in human form, but he's not an animal?" he asked.

Nori's face turned redder, and he started cracking up.

"Ugh!"

Masato gave a smug smile, "_Ugh _to you too."

"Natsu!" Nori whined.

He looked like he'd laugh too, but gave Masato another look nonetheless, "Stop upsetting her."

"Got it, boss." Masato said with a laugh, reaching over and stealing a fry off Nori's plate.

She smacked his hand, "Why would you pretty much agree to stop, and then continue to piss me off!?"

"I forgot." Masato said with a shrug.

Nori sat there glaring at him, but said no more. She grabbed her water angrily, and downed a good lot of it. Natsu sighed,

"Nori, don't drink so fast or you'll choke."

Just as he finished speaking, she pulled the bottle from her mouth, and started coughing. Everyone laughed, but Natsu who just sighed and pat her back.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

She nodded, grabbing a napkin and wiping her mouth.

"Alright. Get your cards. I'm looking forward to winning another round." Yukio said, looking through his cards.

Iva sighed when she saw the variety of cards she had...again. She asked,

"Who's going first?"

"We're going clockwise, so...Kiyomi." he said, looking over to the lump in the black, sleeveless hoody sitting beside Renata. "Kiyomi."

She didn't move. Renata turned toward, and poked her arm,

"Kiyomi?"

Everyone could see her inhale deeply.

"What?"

Her voice was soft, and somewhat monotonous. Yukio asked,

"Are you playing again?"

She sat upright, and then looked around with a solemn expression. Kiyomi's long, blood red hair was tucked back into a low ponytail, but her bangs fell into her hazel eyes.

"Rise and shine." Natsu said with a laugh. "You're worse than a cat, Kiyomi."

She only glanced at him before getting up, and then grabbing her things. Natsu asked,

"Where are you going?"

Before anything could be said, the bell signaling the end of lunch went off.

"Oh crud." Yukio dropped his cards onto the table, and then got up with everyone else. "I had a good hand too."

Kiyomi walked away from the table, easily blending into the crowd heading back into the building. Natsu, following with Nori and Masato, not far behind. Kazuya sighed heavily, getting up,

"Welp. Time for gym. Oh, Renata."

"Huh?" she looked over at him, and jump when she saw a red thing flying toward her.

Renata reflexes came in handy, and she easily caught it. She looked down to see his half eaten apple. The juice from the apple (or at least she hoped it was its juice) seeped onto her hand.

"Ew!" she exclaimed. "That's gross, Kazuya!"

He laughed, grabbed his things hurriedly. Renata moved away from the table, and aimed the apple at him. He got behind Iva, holding her in front of her,

"You wouldn't hurt, Iva, would you?"

"Kazuya, stop. We're gonna be late for cla-aha!" she laughed when felt his claws press into her side. "Let go, that tickles!"

He grinned, momentarily forgetting about Renata, "Oh, it does?"

Kazuya purposely pressed his claws lightly into her side, and grinned when she went into a fit of laughter. Renata huffed, clenching at the apple unconsciously. She grabbed her stuff, and went over to the trashcan. Renata threw it in, and ran toward the building, hoping to catch up with Kiyomi. They all, unfortunately, had gym together, but most of the time Kiyomi found some place to take a nap in. Renata usually stuck with her, and today was going to be no exception.

Meanwhile, Kazuya continued to tickle Iva until she finally managed to break free of him. She pointed an accusing finger at him, panting,

"Do you want us to be late!?"

"We're not gonna be late." he said, grabbing his things. "Let's go."

Yukio, and his girlfriend walked ahead of them back into the building. Kazuya and Iva followed not far behind.

**A/N:** **I didn't like this chapter **_**at all**_**. It was harder to write than I thought it would. Ugh. *sigh* I hope at least some of you liked it, and come back for future chapters. Anyway, here's the characters:**

Yuta = Naomi/some dude (18)

Yukio = Sesshy/Kita (17)

Masato = Kikyo/Naraku/InuYasha (17)

Iva = Sango/Miroku (16)

Kazuya = InuYasha/Kagome (16)

Kiyomi = Sesshy/Kita (15)

Renata = Naomi/Bankotsu (15)

Natsu = Sango/Miroku (15)

Nori = Sango/Miroku (15)


	2. Bad Omen

**Identity**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own InuYasha.

**Chapter 2: **Bad Omen

* * *

"Hey, Kiyomi, wait up!"

Renata had had to pretty much fight through the swarming crowd to get into the halls, and catch up to her. When she finally made it to her side, she huffed,

"Why are you in such a hurry? You usually wait until there isn't a crowd. Not like you're going to gym anyway, right?"

Kiyomi glanced at her, "I am today."

"Huh?" Renata looked at her. "Why? I mean...all year, you've skipped the class."

When Kiyomi didn't explain herself, Renata sighed, but followed after her regardless. She didn't know what was going on in her cousin's head half the time, but it was always like that. Luckily for her and everyone else, she was nowhere near as frightening as her father. Renata shuddered at the thought.

They got to the gym before anyone else, or at least that was what Renata thought. Just as Kiyomi opened the door, a tall guy stood there with his arm outstretched to push the door open. Kiyomi made no move to get out of the way, nor did the guy. Renata shifted uneasily when an awkward silence developed between the three of them. She looked at the guy. Renata had never seen him in their school before. He was tall, had neck length choppy, lavender colored hair and eyes. A small smirk was on his face. He looked from Renata to Kiyomi. When his bright eyes settled on Kiyomi, his pupils constricted. Renata rubbed her arm,

"_Did the A/C just get turned on full blast or something? I'm freezing_!"

"You're in the way." Kiyomi spoke up finally, her eyes narrowing.

He laughed, making his bangs fall into his eyes, "Am I?"

When he continued to stand in his place, Kiyomi just walked past him, and not gently either. Renata saw anger cross the guys face. He grabbed her arm roughly, and grinned when he saw just a hint of pain on her face. Kiyomi's head snapped toward him,

"You have less than five seconds to release me."

"Or you'll what?" he asked, smirking.

Renata watched as he yanked Kiyomi up close to his chest as if she were some rag doll.

"What's going on?"

The three of them looked back to see Masato, followed with Natsu and Nori. Masato stood there, and glared at the guy who looked at him with surprise. Natsu walked around Masato, and toward him. He yanked his hand from Kiyomi, and shoved him back,

"Release her."

The guy looked at Natsu with an outraged expression,

"Did you just put your hands on me, human?"

"Did you put your hands on a girl, _coward_?" Natsu shot back.

The guy sneered, but was grabbed by the arm. He glanced back to see Masato holding him. Masato looked down at him with narrowed eyes. A huge smile came across his face. He turned toward him,

"It's amazing. You look like..."

"What...?" Masato glared, not getting what this crazy bastard was talking about.

Nori came up behind Masato, and grabbed the back of his shirt,

"Let him go, Masato. Don't start a fight."

Masato made a face, and then shoved the guy back enough to make him stumble.

"You've started your first day here on the wrong foot." he said. "Let me go ahead and give you tip. There are eight people in this school you don't bother unless you're looking for a fight. Who are those eight people? Me, of course. Kiyomi, Nori, Natsu, Yukio, Iva, Renata, and Kazuya."

The guy grinned, and then gave a laugh, "You hold yourself to their level? How funny."

He straightened his shirt. Masato glared at him,

"What do you mean?"

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Hakudoshi Onigumo, and we'll be seeing more of each other soon. Until next time?"

Masato took a step forward as he started to make his way around him, "Wait, I want to know what you meant."

"Masato," Nori urged, "just let him go."

Before Hakudoshi walked out of the gym, he stopped, and looked back toward Kiyomi who was watching him. He grinned,

"Tell your father I said hello."

Kiyomi narrowed her eyes at him. With that, he left the gym just as the rest of them started filing in with the rest of the students in this class. Kazuya noticed the irritated look on his brother's face, and frowned,

"What?"

"This guy tried to fight Kiyomi." Renata said with an irritated look on her face.

Yukio had been heading for the locker room, but stopped upon hearing that. He looked at his sister,

"What? What guy?"

"I handled him fine. The problem would have been resolved quicker had I not been interrupted." Kiyomi said, and then looking down where Natsu was holding her wrist. "Natsu..."

He looked at her, and then down to where he had a hold of her wrist. Natsu smiled, letting go of her,

"Oh, sorry. Are you alright?"

"I am fine." she said.

Instead of moving away from her like he knew she wanted, Natsu brought his hand up toward her hair, and smoothed her hair down. It'd started to rise much like a cat whenever it feels threatened. Kiyomi blinked at him like he'd grown another head. No one was really paying attention to either of them since they were trying to get more information from Renata, Masato, and Nori.

"Hakudoshi Onigumo?" Yukio repeated. "I've never even heard of that kid."

"Well, no shit." Masato said, stretching. "He's new here, and...he's no kid. He's our age."

"So what?" Yukio said, looking toward the hallway leading out of the gym.

"Don't get any ideas, Yukio." Iva said. "Masato handled it, and even if he hadn't come, Kiyomi is perfectly capable of taking care of herself."

He looked at her, "She's still my little sister, and I want to find the guy to give him more than a shove. How do you feel when people bother your younger siblings?"

Before Iva could answer him, something that sounded like two hands clapping together once resonating throughout the gym. Everyone's heads shot toward the sound to find Natsu on his butt, and Kiyomi already half way toward the bathroom. Iva sighed,

"Well, it's hard to do that when they're a part of the problem."

Masato laughed, "Man, that sounded like it hurt."

Iva walked over, and grabbed her brother by the sleeve, pulling him up, "What'd you do, Natsu? How many times has Mom told you to keep your hand to yourself?"

He got up, rubbing his cheek, "All I did was flatten her hair out, because it was flying everywhere. I was just helping."

"Yeah." Kazuya said with a laugh. "Helped yourself to groping her ass."

Natsu turned red, glancing at Yukio, and then laughing nervously, "I don't know what you mean. She just doesn't like being touched in general. All I did was touch her hair. I swear."

"How many times do I have to explain sexual harassment to you?" Iva said in a scolding tone, putting her hand on her hip. "I should just let Yukio teach you a lesson."

Yukio had just looked at Natsu with a bright gleam in his eyes. Hearing Iva say that, he grinned, and then started over toward them,

"As if I wanted your approval."

"Yukio, wait." Natsu said, taking a few steps back.

Yukio jumped at him, but Natsu easily jumped away, landing right behind Masato, "Fight Masato. He's your number one rival, right? Do some wrestling before class starts."

"I'd love a fight right now, but..." Masato grabbed Natsu from behind him, and shoved him toward Yukio. "Watching this could be fun."

"Gah!" Natsu fell to the floor with Yukio, who had him in a headlock.

Some students walking in stopped, and laughed. Masato laughing the loudest, and Kazuya being the second loudest. Looking at them, Iva could only see InuYasha. No, more like hear. All anyone had to do was listen to how they talk, laugh, and pretty much breath. She shook her head, and then headed toward the locker room,

"Renata, Nori...let's get ready for class?"

"Yeah." they said in unison.

Meanwhile, Yukio grinned as Natsu tried to get out of his hold, but was unsuccessful.

"This is kinda boring, isn't it?" Yukio asked with a grin. "Maybe I should call Masato and Kazuya over to fart in your face."

"No!" he yelled, looking up at him in horror. "I'll die."

"Maybe." Yukio said, laughing.

The sound of a whistle going off made the laughing stop. Yukio looked back to see the _too_ familiar face of their coach. He grinned, getting up, and then giving a lame wave,

"Hiya, Bankotsu."

"Starting up trouble again, huh? And how many times do I have to tell you not to call me by my first name here?" he asked when he made it over to them.

Yukio just gave a small smile. Bankotsu couldn't help but to grin. Ever since he'd started a family with Naomi, he knew he had to end the dangerous chapter of his life, and settle down. When Renata was old enough, he started searching for another job, and after a while it finally hit him. How great would it be to be able to watch all these kids grow up, and also be able to use his skills to train demons at the same time? Plus, teenager years being the worse nightmare for a father with a daughter, Bankotsu knew with this job he could keep a close eye on Renata. So far, so good though. Renata wasn't really interested in guys as far as he knew, but with teenagers he knew things could change in a heartbeat.

Bankotsu dropped his thoughts, and looked at all the boys, "Alright, go get changed for class."

**The Girls' Locker Room**

Kiyomi undressed, and began to change into her gym clothes. She could feel the others staring at her. Kiyomi clenched her jaw, trying to control the blush she knew was on her face. She was trying her hardest to keep her face hidden until the damned blush went away. Kiyomi mentally cursed that _idiot's_ existence.

"So, Kiyomi," Renata started with a grin as she got dressed herself, "what was all of that about? What happened? You know...with Natsu just now?"

"Do not pester me about that pervert." she said.

Renata smiled, trying to catch a look at her, but she seemed to turn her head in some way every time.

"Oh no, wait." she said, walking over, and grabbing her cousin's arm.

Renata turned Kiyomi toward her, and was welcome with a light, red tinted face. She gasped,

"You're blushing!"

"What?" Nori and Iva said simultaneously, looking over at her.

Kiyomi shook her cousin's hold, and turned back to her locker, "That's usually what the feeling of rage does."

"Don't even try to pull that!" Nori said quickly. "Do you like Natsu?"

"Of course not. You are all being ridiculous." Kiyomi retorted, finishing up, and then closing her locker.

When she turned to leave the locker room, she saw a lot of the girls staring at her curiously. When Kiyomi narrowed her eyes, they all turned away, but that didn't stop them from whispering to each other.

"Okay, you guys should lay off." Iva said, a hand on her hip. "How could someone like Kiyomi like our goofy, slyly perverted brother?"

"Opposites attract." Renata said.

Nori nodded, somewhat eagerly, "Exactly!"

"What's your type anyway, Kiyomi?" Renata asked.

When she looked, Kiyomi was no longer there. Iva blinked,

"Wasn't she just standing there?"

"If she's avoiding the conversation, then it's safe to assume, right?" Nori asked.

Iva shook her head, sighing, "Come on, guys. You're going to end up spreading unnecessary rumors. Kiyomi isn't the first, nor will she be the last, girl Natsu acts perverted toward. Opposites can attract, sure, but this is beyond that. They're polar opposites. It's like...like Sesshomaru dating Kagome, or something."

"Ew." Renata made a disgusted face.

She laughed at their expressions, "Exactly, so let's drop it."

"I could hope." Nori said, following them out. "At least then we wouldn't have to worry about Natsu finding the wrong girl."

"Right, because a girl that doesn't like to show too much emotion is his perfect match." Iva said.

Nori stuck her tongue at her older sister, and then pursed her lips. As usual, most of the guys had already beat them to the bleachers. They all split up as they got to the bleachers. Iva going to sit with some of her friends that'd left the locker room before her, and Renata to Kiyomi. Nori followed up them up the bleachers, cell phone out in front of her, and her finger gliding across the screen skillfully. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going, and didn't notice a person stand up from one of the bleachers. Nori ran into something hard and gasped when she lost her footing, dropping her phone as to try and find her footing. A hand grabbed her wrist, and pulled her forward.

Nori had her eyes squeezed shut for a good bit, but opened them when she heard a laugh. She looked up to see a grinning Masato, his red eyes gleaming with amusement. Any other girl might feel afraid, or dazed but Nori was all too familiar with this. She felt her cheeks puff up in irritation, and he laughed again,

"What? I helped you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, well obviously you were the cause of it." she twisted her wrist out of his hold.

Masato rolled his eyes, "Or it was your own fault for not paying attention."

He knelt down, and grabbed her phone.

"Hey, Nori!"

Nori looked away to see the group of people she usually hung out with at the top of the bleachers. She smiled, and waved,

"I'll be up in a second!"

Nori's eyes shifted back to Masato. He no longer looked so amused, and she frowned seeing how he was looking at her,

"What?"

"Nothing." he said, moving out of her way, and retaking his seat.

Nori looked back toward her friends, and then back at Masato. She huffed, plopping down beside him. Masato looked at her,

"What are you doing?"

"You're acting weird!" Nori exclaimed.

He didn't give her so much of a glance, "So? What's it to you?"

"You're my friend, dummy. You know I'll listen if you need to talk...about, well-"

"I'm fine, thanks." he said gruffly.

Nori watched him, and then sighed heavily,

'_Ugh, I feel like even though I'm the closest to him and I've known him all my freaking life, I still don't get him! Why does he have to be so complicated!? It's not like I'm trying to be bitchy per say, I just want to be seen as someone rather than just "Natsu's sister". It's been like that since we were kids and it wasn't a problem back then…because I really just WANTED to be like him. But when we both decided to start being independent…it just became so much easier for him…I had to fight for people to even learn my name! We are just seven minutes apart…geez._'Nori sighed again, smirking a little, '_I mean, Masato can be a total jerk…always trying to piss me off and whatnot…but, I'd like to think he sees me like I see him…a best friend…_'

Nori felt something smacked her in the forehead, and she winced, cupping her forehead.

"Ow!" she whined, and glared over at Masato knowingly.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Are _you_ alright? You look like you're having a mental party. Hm, I still have a ton of Abilify if you'd like some."

Nori gave him a look, and he laughed. She knew she could have slapped him on the arm, or yelled at him but didn't.

'_I really don't get how he can joke about his disorder. Still smile. Even though it's rare for anyone to see it, I'm glad I get to on rare occasions such as this._' she thought, smiling.

Masato brought his hand to thump her forehead again, and she caught his wrist this time,

"I don't think so."

She brought her other hand up, and giving him a hard thump on his forehead. Nori laughed seeing him wince. She smiled when he simply grinned at her.

"Alright!" Bankotsu called over the talking of the students. "If I can get your attention, I'm going to start."

After a while, everyone finally calmed down, and gave him their attention. He smiled,

"So as you all know, we only have a month left of school, and so the time has come for HADIT. For you new to the school this year, that means Humans and Demons In-Training."

A few people started to laugh, and Bankotsu smiled,

"Yeah, yeah, I know. The name's a bit funny abbreviated, isn't it? You can all thank me for the _marvelous_ name."

He heard a loud groan, and looked to none other than Kazuya. Bankotsu raised an eyebrow,

"You have something to say, Kazuya?"

"I do actually." he said, a big smile on his face. "Well, I was just going to say that I think we've about had it with you reminding us you made it up."

The laughter got louder.

"Oh, ha...ha ha." Bankotsu said. "Anyway..."

He gave Kazuya a look, and he just grinned back at him in return, reminding him of his cocky father. Bankotsu continued,

"HADIT begins with a series of preliminary training. During these sessions of training, I will be choosing the team for the HADIT tournaments this year. Normally there are sixteen to twenty tournaments every year, but it depends. Now, I encourage all of you to not immediately decide you can't do it, because you never know unless you try. Any questions so far?"

The first hand to be raised was by Iva. He nodded at her, and she sat straighter as she spoke,

"I thought it'd be helpful to the newbies if you told them the benefits of being apart of HADIT."

Bankotsu nodded, "Good suggestion, Iva. Ultimately, you all simply become more skilled in your abilities. Other benefits is if you manage to be on HADIT all four years, then colleges are more likely to take a closer look at you. There are bigger tournaments, and programs like this in college, so you also become more familiar with what is expected. Anymore questions before I move on?"

No one raised their hand. He continued,

"The team consists of eight, and one of the eight being the captain, just like any other sport. The training will start tomorrow after I find out who will be trying out. All students that do not wish to participate will be placed in a study hall during class for the rest of the year. In other words, the paper to sign up is on the bulletin near the guidance office. That's about all I have to tell you all for now. Any questions now?"

Yukio waved at him, and he asked, "Are you going to ask a good question, Yukio, or do you feel the need to crack a joke like your cousin?"

"Psh, I'm not that childish." Yukio said with a grin, getting a glare sent his way by Kazuya. "I just want to make sure I'm still captain. Usually you announce that right off the bat."

Yukio expected an expression that explained he'd forgotten, but he frowned.

**With InuYasha: 9PM**

It brought InuYasha everlasting pleasure to see his computer dim to blackness. Another workday came to an end, and he could finally go home. Today had especially been a crappy day when he found out there'd been a meeting, but he hadn't been invited. It wasn't like it was the first time. The real problem lied in the fact they only included him when they couldn't handle it alone anymore.

"_Cocky sons of bitches_." he thought grumpily.

InuYasha got up, and undid his tie, pulling it off. He didn't bother packing up any stuff, and just grabbed his car keys. InuYasha headed out of his room, and down the dim lit hallways to the elevators. However, when he passed Sesshomaru's office, he paused. InuYasha's ears twitched when he heard an unfamiliar voice inside his office.

'_It'd be easier on you to just agree on the merge. How could such an inferior business such as my own, destroy your _clearly_ superior one?_' a male voice asked sarcastically.

InuYasha moved closer when he heard his father's voice instead of Sesshomaru's.

"It is exactly because of your status that we do not want you." InuTaisho said without hesitation. "If we want you, we'll have you without any merging."

"Ouch." the man said after a pause. "Say what you will, but rather by agreement or force..."

InuYasha frowned. He could smell the man's scent. Heavily coated with human cologne, and mixed with his own natural strong spice-like scent. It burned his nose. The man's natural scent smelt familiar. Toxic. He blinked out of his wondering thoughts, and continued to listen to hear Sesshomaru's words,

"...think that you could touch this company with no reputation, is beyond _human smarts_ idiotic. Then again, you are half human so I suppose it makes sense."

"Sesshomaru." InuTaisho said in a warning tone.

The man gave a laugh, "How professional of you."

"Professional is doing business, and you're only wasting my time." Sesshomaru responded; the sound of a chair scraping the floor was heard. "Father, you can deal with this fool on your own."

"You bastard." the man growled, suddenly angry. "I've been keeping my cool, but you're really quite the nerve hitter. Is it not business to want to destroy your competition? While you may be my competition, but you're also the murderer of my brother."

"Your brother." Sesshomaru repeated.

There was a silence.

"You are no more but a detachment of him, and to think otherwise is nothing more than a fantasy." he continued. "I will kill you just the same. It makes no difference to me who you are, or your motive."

InuYasha didn't move even though he knew Sesshomaru was coming for the door. When it opened, he didn't even look at his brother, but at the man. He had back length black hair, tan skin, and jade colored eyes.

"Move."

InuYasha finally looked at Sesshomaru. He scoffed, and stepped out of the way. Sesshomaru walked out of the room, and down the hall toward the elevators.

"The meeting is over." InuTaisho said.

InuYasha looked into the room again, and did not hesitate to ask, "Who is he?"

InuTaisho looked at InuYasha, "It does not matter."

"I am Muso Onigumo." the man blurted, looking InuYasha directly in the eye. "Naraku's brother, and technically...Masato's uncle."

InuYasha's face contorted from curiosity to anger, "Yeah, and what do you want here?"

"Did you not hear the conversation?" he asked. "Clearly that will not work, so I suppose the original route it'll be. He'll be most happy knowing that, anyway."

"He'll?" InuYasha repeated, his hand clenching into a fist. "Did that bastard survive? Naraku...he's-"

"Dead, so obviously not who I'm speaking of." Muso said bitterly, but then grinning. "At least, he'll remain dead for _now_."

He grabbed his jacket.

"I'll excuse myself, then." Muso said.

InuYasha didn't let him pass him. He grabbed him by the arm, and growled,

"I don't like the sound of what you said, what are you planning you bastard?"

"Release me." Muso sneered, shaking InuYasha off of him.

"InuYasha." InuTaisho appeared at his son's side, putting his hand on his shoulder to prevent him from grabbing at the man.

InuYasha growled, watching as Muso turned, and left. He looked at his father,

"What the hell was that?"

"I was hoping to keep you out of this, but it seems Naraku was not alone as I'd originally thought. This could be bad, but for now I am not worried. With his status, there is not much he can do to our business, but what he said about Naraku..."

InuYasha felt his hands clench into tighter fist. Kagome, Maiko, Masato and Kazuya flashed through his head. The only one to worry him the most right now, though, was Masato. He didn't even know...

As far as he was concerned, he was never going to find out.

"I'm heading home." he said, starting toward the elevators himself.

InuTaisho asked, "How much longer do you think you can hide this from him? It was hard enough trying to explain to him as a child why he didn't look like you, or Kagome?"

"Keh, hard how?" InuYasha asked, glancing back at his father. "He had Kagome's hair, and some dead person of our family's eyes. Question never asked again."

"How do you think he'll react to finding out you lied to him?" InuTaisho asked. "Masato is hard to control already."

"His disorder is hard to control, not him." InuYasha retorted.

InuTaisho sighed, "It's still a part of him. You should have been thinking how finding this secret out could affect it."

"He won't find out. Period." InuYasha retorted before continuing down the hallway to the elevators.

InuTaisho watched InuYasha's back disappear around the corner, and sighed. He shook his head, and then returned into Sesshomaru's office to gather his things.

**Back At Home **

The house was quiet. As usual, everyone was asleep way before Masato. He lied out on the couch, the television the only source of light in the dark living room. Masato craned his neck toward the door when he heard it unlock. When he saw silver hair, he knew immediately it was his father. Masato's gaze returned to the television. After a second, InuYasha entered the living room,

"What are you still doing awake?"

"This is surprising, how?" Mastao asked, his eyes still on the television.

"Smart ass." InuYasha grumbled, seeing a smirk come onto his face.

Masato expected him to head down the hall to his room, but he felt his presence still near the couch. He looked over again to find him staring at him, and with softened eyes. Masato blinked, and then raised an eyebrow. That was rare...and weird.

"Are you drunk?" Masato asked, taking a sniff in the air.

InuYasha shook his head, "I'm not."

"Okay...then why are you looking at me like that?" Masato asked. "Drugs?"

InuYasha couldn't help but to laugh. Masato sat up. He noticed there was something off. His father seemed on edge. InuYasha shook his head, and then turned to head down the hall. Masato stopped him,

"Dad."

InuYasha stopped, and looked at him, "What is it?"

"What's your problem?" he asked.

InuYasha shook his head again, "Not your problem."

"Yeah, well if you worry, then Mom worries and then that's hell for the rest of us, because you just start arguments instead of just talking to her." Masato replied.

He snorted, "Ain't my fault she's sensitive."

There was a short silence, and then InuYasha turned toward him again. He looked Masato right in the eye,

"Just don't worry about it. Goodnight."

"Right...goodnight." Masato said, shrugging it off, and then lying back on the couch.

When he heard the bedroom door shut, Masato yawned, and then got up. He shut the TV,

'_Well now that he's here, I can finally go to bed._'

Masato didn't bother cleaning up his mess, and instead ran upstairs.

Meanwhile, InuYasha got dressed in his pajamas and joined Kagome in bed. He wasted no time wrapping his arms around her waist, and pulling her closer to him. InuYasha buried his face into the hollow of her neck, breathing in her sweet scent, and felt himself relax. Kagome took in a soft breath, and eventually her sleepy voice speaking,

"You're back."

"Well why wouldn't I be?" he asked.

Kagome mumbled incoherently for a second, and then yawned, whispering, "Be a good doggy, InuYasha. Don't be mean."

InuYasha grinned, "Yeah, whatever. Just go back to sleep."

Instead of moving closer, she pulled back and kissed him on the lips. He kissed her back, and eventually pulled away. Kagome moved closer to him, smiling,

"I love you."

He just grinned, and then kissed her neck before holding her close to him. Soon enough, InuYasha heard Kagome's breathing slow down as she settled back to sleep. It didn't take him long to follow suit.

**A/N: I need to tell you guys about the Tumblr page where I have a picture of all the characters (the new ones, that is). If you want to have a better visual of them, go to midnight-sesshy [d o t] tumblr [d o t] c o m; without the brackets, dots, and spaces, of course. I had to do that in order to show the link, because Fanfiction doesn't allow you to post links. Anyway, on that page, on the left below the picture of InuYasha and Kagome, you'll find four white boxes. There's one labeled IDENTITY KIDS (there's one labeled IDENTITY ADULTS as well). Click on that, and you'll get to see just what all these characters look like in detail. I really encourage you go check it out first, and then read this chapter. It'll help. Trust me.**

**Also, I just want to thank Kita. She's been a ton of help in WHB and this story. Without her, WHB wouldn't of been finished, and this story wouldn't even be a thought. I also want to thank all of you readers, and especially those that take the mere minute it takes to give a review. You don't understand how thankful I am. So thanks, all of you wonderful people. ^_^**


	3. Dreams and Reality

**Identity**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own InuYasha.

**Chapter 3: **Dreams and Reality

* * *

_Silence rang in Kiyomi's ears as she made her way down a seemingly never-ending hallway. Her eyes were set on their destination, but for every step she made it got further away. Walking about the halls in school was nothing new to her, but something seemed off. Kiyomi looked down at herself to see she was wearing a black hoodie, and her favorite pair of blue jeans. Wasn't this the outfit she'd worn yesterday? _

_Kiyomi wanted to stop and look around, but something urged her on. Without really even noticing, she made it to the door that led into the gymnasium. Kiyomi narrowed her eyes at the door. If she was guessing correctly, as soon as she opened the door she'd see that boy's face again. Hakudoshi..._

_Remembering what he did made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Kiyomi opened the door, ready to make him pay for so much as laying his hand on her, but whom she came face to face with was not Hakudoshi. She looked into a pair of violet colored eyes that were uncomfortably close to her. Kiyomi stumbled back in surprise, but quickly recovered her composure, _

"_What are you doing here?"_

"_You tell me." A grin crossed his face, showing off his pearly white teeth. Kiyomi felt herself getting more irritated than she thought she would had it been Hakudoshi. _

_Natsu. He was an insufferable, disgusting, masochistic pervert. Through their entire childhood, Kiyomi tried to stay away from him, but that was hard when their mothers loved to visit each other so much. _

_Natsu's head cocked to the side slightly, his black bangs falling into his eyes,_

"_Something wrong?" _

_There it was, the thing about him that agitated her the most. His _concern_. Even Yukio, her own brother, knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself. She'd beaten him in duals enough to prove it. However, this human thought he had the right to come stand in front of her whenever he thought she was in danger. _

"_Really, Kiyomi." he said, walking closer to her, outstretching his hand toward her. "What's-"_

_Kiyomi swatted his hand away, "Don't put your hands on me." _

_His smile fell, and he seemed sad. Kiyomi walked past him, and into the gymnasium. When she entered the gym, she turned toward where the girls' locker rooms were, but found that the doors weren't there. Kiyomi's eyebrows furrowed. _

"_Kiyomi." _

_A hiss escaped her when she felt a hot breath on her neck. Kiyomi brought her elbow back, and expected to make contact with his face but she hit nothing, making her hair fall into her face. She turned around to see Natsu standing near the door with a raised eyebrow, and a wide grin on his face,_

"_What are you doing? Are you sure you're okay?" _

_Kiyomi didn't say anything. She stood upright, but made no move to move her hair from her face. Kiyomi let her bangs fall into her eyes. Heat rushed into her face, and she silently growled in frustration. _

"_Kiyomi?" _

_Kiyomi retorted, but with a level tone, "Don't patronize me." _

"_Patronize you?" he repeated. "I wasn't. I was just wondering why you're acting so strangely."_

"_You're lying. You're messing with me, and it's beginning to really aggravate me. I'm only giving you one warning." Kiyomi retorted. _

_She hated the feeling of rage. Whenever she got angry, no matter how hard she tried, it was hard for her to truly keep her composure. _

"The downside to having parents that are completely different species, and whom have opposing personalities, no less._" she thought._

"_Why do you dislike me so much?" _

_Kiyomi looked up through her bangs, and found Natsu standing right in front of her. She replied,_

"_Are you asking for one reason?" _

_He looked at her sadly again. Kiyomi looked away, _

"_Leave me be." _

"_I can't." he replied. _

_Kiyomi looked at him again, and narrowed her eyes, "What?"_

"_I can't, because I like you." he said, his voice not even wavering of nervousness._

_He said it like it was nothing. Kiyomi clenched her hands into a fist, her nails digging into her palm. He gave a crooked smile,_

"_No response? Well, I figured that, but I find it hard you'd deny that the feeling is mutual."_

"_I do not like you!" she retorted, her voice rising slightly in irritation. _

"_You're blushing!" a feminine voice squealed. _

_Kiyomi turned toward the voice to see Renata looked at her with bewilderment. _

"_I'm not b-" Kiyomi started, but was interrupted when Nori suddenly appeared beside her._

"_Don't even try to pull that! Do you like Natsu?" _

_Kiyomi felt her heart beginning to pound against her chest in anxiety. She wasn't nervous, she was angry. Kiyomi wanted to punch them both in the face. Did she say such a ridiculous thing? What made them think this? She could never..._

_Kiyomi felt a hand slip under her bangs, and press against her forehead. She looked forward to find Natsu standing extremely close to her now. He had his hand pressed against her forehead, a look of amusement, and slight concern on his face. His hand...it was colder than she thought it was._

_Kiyomi was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't hear what Natsu was saying to her. He cocked his head slightly. Natsu asked,_

"_What are you thinking?"_

"_Wh-" _

_Natsu cut her off, except this time it wasn't his voice, "Kiyomi, wake up." _

_Natsu's face morphed into her fathers, and his amber eyes narrowed at her._

Kiyomi's eyes shot open, and she looked over to see her father standing over her with his hand pressed against her forehead. Just like in her dream, his eyes narrowed at her. For a moment, she started to wonder if he had psychic abilities, and if he saw everything. If he knew everything. Kiyomi quickly got a hold of herself. She knew that was his (the glaring) form of concern, or curiosity. Either way.

"Kiyomi." he said.

Kiyomi blinked at him as he took his hand off her forehead, "Yes?"

"I asked if you were ill." he said, studying her.

Kiyomi sat up, and pushed her hair from her face. She felt hot, and sweaty. Kiyomi shook her head,

"I just had a dream is all."

"A dream." he repeated.

She wasn't lying. It'd been a dream. Kiyomi just hoped he did not ask for details.

"Illness is not something to dismiss." he said.

Kiyomi looked up at him, "I'm fine. Really."

He looked into her eyes, and then nodded. Kiyomi looked at the clock to find that it was only five in the morning. She didn't need to get ready for school for another two hours. Kiyomi sighed.

"When you've gotten a hold of yourself, come downstairs. I need to speak with you."

Kiyomi nodded, "Yes, Father."

She watched as he turned, and walked out of the room. When Kiyomi heard him descending the stairs, she fell back onto her back, and then let out a heavy sigh. She wiped the sweat from her brow,

"_I must of looked like a psychopath just now._"

Kiyomi sighed again, and then sat up. She undid the bun her hair was in, and let the red tresses fall down her back and over her shoulders. Kiyomi ran her fingers through it once, and then pulled it all over to the side. For a while she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to calm down. When her heart rate finally returned to normal, she got up, and went to wash her face. Afterward, she headed downstairs to the kitchen she knew not only her father waited for her. Kiyomi walked in, hearing her mother talking.

"I told you it was just a puppy dream. You're so overprotective." Kita teased.

He replied, "She's not a puppy."

"Says you." Kita said with a defiant look on her face. "They'll always be my wittle puppies."

Kita grinned when he seemed to struggle to sigh. She looked up at Kiyomi,

"Good morning. Wow! How does your hair look so good in the morning? I swear you put some kind of unscented, magical gel in it. That's it, isn't it?"

Kiyomi just shook her head, walking over to the island, and then sitting across from them. She looked at her father, and then asked,

"What'd you need to talk about?"

"Yukio's been in a cranky mood." Kita started before Sesshomaru could open his mouth. "He didn't eat dinner, and went straight to his room. Did something happen yesterday?"

Kiyomi relaxed knowing it was just something about her brother. She replied,

"He's not the captain for HADIT this year. Well, we won't know until today, actually. There is supposed to be a duel of some sort today during the class. It will determine who will be the captain."

"Between Yukio and whom?" Sesshomaru asked.

Kiyomi tried not to look irritated thinking of the guy, "His name is Hakudoshi Onigumo."

Neither of them said anything. She looked between the both of them. The only reason Kiyomi knew this meant something was because of her mother. Kita's eyes widened,

"Onigumo?"

"What's...going on? Do you know him?" Kiyomi asked slowly, looking between her parents, and then suddenly remembering something he'd told her. "Father, Hakudoshi...he did tell me to tell you _hello_, if that means anything."

Kita frowned at this, "Sesshomaru..."

Sesshomaru look at Kita once, before looking back to Kiyomi, "That's all, return to your room."

"Yes sir."

Kiyomi excused herself from the kitchen, but she couldn't help want to stick around to find out was going on. They wouldn't talk about it now, because she could just as easily hear them from upstairs. More than likely, it'd be when they're alone.

"Well?" Kiyomi heard her mother ask.

He replied, "We'll speak of this later."

**At InuYasha and Kagome's**

It was like any other morning for Kagome; she woke up at six to start breakfast, and then checked on Maiko to find she was already awake (as usual) playing with her toys. However, one thing was different. As 6:30 came around, InuYasha remained asleep. He usually got up to leave, but he didn't.

"_I was sure he had to work today. Maybe he's taking the day off_?" she thought to herself.

Kagome came out of her thoughts when she heard footsteps coming downstairs. She heard Kazuya talking as they approached the kitchen,

"This is probably going to end bad. I mean, if Bankotsu suggested him for the position, then it must mean he's really strong, right?"

"Maybe." Masato said with a shrug. "I don't know, and I really don't care. I'm only looking forward to how funny it's going to be. Come on, think about it. Yukio losing? That'll be the talk of the school until our graduation."

Kagome watched as both of them immediately went to the table, and started grabbing food. She narrowed her eyes slightly,

"Well good morning."

"Oh! Good morning, Mom." Kazuya said, glancing back at her with a piece of bacon in his mouth.

Kagome shook her head, and then asked, "What are you two talking about? Something the matter with Yukio?"

"Not really." Kazuya replied. "I've changed my mind. I don't think he'll lose."

Masato grinned, "Why not? You talk like he can't be defeated."

"But think about it." Kazuya retorted. "Yukio can transform into this huge dog."

"How do you know this guy can't?" Masato asked.

Kagome looked between them as they pretty much went into their own world again. She walked over, and sat at the table with them,

"You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, you know. Yukio's strong, but there will always someone better than you in the world."

"Hey, I can take him just fine." Masato said. "I ain't saying he's some sort of undefeatable god, or something. I'm just saying it's going to be funny if he gets his ass kicked."

"Masato." Kagome said with a sigh. "Language."

"Oops." he said, and then looking around. "Where's Maiko?"

"She's playing in her room." Kagome replied. "I should check on her."

"Mom, we got any orange juice?" Kazuya asked.

She stood, "Fridge."

Kazuya smiled at her, his dog-ears twitching slightly atop his head, "Could you get it for me?"

Saying no to InuYasha was a lot easier than saying no to her son. This is why they were spoiled. Kagome could take full blame for that. She sighed, and then went over to the fridge. Kagome grabbed the orange juice and a couple glasses, and then brought it over,

"Drink goes in a cup, remember?"

"Yeah, I'm not a kid, ya know." Kazuya said, watching her leave the kitchen, and then opening the carton.

He drank straight from it. Masato laughed.

Kagome went down the hall to Maiko's room, and opened the door, "Mai, do you want some..."

She trailed off when she realized that Maiko was nowhere to be seen. Kagome could hear faint giggling just in the next room. She walked down the hall, and opened the door to her and InuYasha's bedroom. When she looked inside, Maiko was lying beside InuYasha, and putting something on his face. Kagome could only see with the small light provided through their curtains. As she came closer, it became clear that it was Kagome's lipstick. She'd applied it all around and on his lips. Kagome laughed, and then covered her mouth. InuYasha's ears twitched toward her. Maiko looked back toward her with wide, shining gray eyes.

"What do you think you're doing, Maiko?" Kagome asked softly. "I don't think Daddy wants lipstick on his face."

"But it's pretty." she replied, turning back, and smooshing it once into his cheek.

Kagome laughed, "_Well there goes another one_."

She walked over, and gently got on the bed, "I think he's beautiful, don't you? You put just the right amount."

"Really?" Maiko asked, smiling up at her mother.

She nodded, "Yep."

Kagome held her hand out, and she gave her the tube of lipstick. She picked up Maiko and went into the bathroom to throw it away. When she re-entered the bedroom, InuYasha had moved onto his stomach, and was stretching. He was waking up. Before she could think to just leave the room, his eyes slowly opened, and then wandered over to them. InuYasha raised an eye at them,

"What are you doing just standing there?"

"Uh-"

"You look pretty, Daddy!" Maiko exclaimed, giggling.

Kagome thought maybe he'd get it right away, but he just smiled. That did it. Kagome burst into laughter. InuYasha got up, stretching,

"What's so funny?"

Kagome couldn't even think of words. She couldn't stop laughing. InuYasha frowned, and then sniffed,

"What's that smell?"

From the look on his face, Kagome knew it smelt familiar to him. He looked at her at first, and then his eyes slowly narrowed. InuYasha brought his hand up to his face, and wiped at it. He looked at his hand. Kagome laughed,

"Good choice, but I think your reaction looking in the mirror would have been far funnier."

InuYasha looked at Maiko, "You little runt!"

Maiko hugged Kagome around the neck tightly for protection. Kagome smiled, holding her close. She laughed again seeing InuYasha's frown,

"Aw, don't be so cranky, InuYasha."

"This crap is hard to get off. You probably helped her, didn't you?" he asked.

"But you're pretty." Kagome replied.

InuYasha glared back at her, and she started laughing again. Maiko pouted,

"He doesn't like it, Mommy."

"Of course I don't like it. I'm not a woman. Men don't wear makeup." InuYasha retorted.

Maiko looked at him sadly, "B-but you have it on your mouth sometimes. I see it!"

InuYasha just blinked at her, and then glanced at Kagome. She cleared her throat, and looked at Maiko,

"Um, that's because I try to make him look pretty too, Maiko. I keep trying to convince him he's pretty, but he still doesn't like it. Maybe we should try markers?"

Maiko's look at her with wide, interested eyes.

"Kagome." he said.

She smiled at him, and then sat Maiko on the floor. Maiko walked up to her father,

"You really don't like it?"

InuYasha huffed, and then picked up Maiko, "Look here, runt, why don't you stick drawing pictures?"

Maiko looked at him sadly, "Fine."

InuYasha rolled his eyes when her ears seemed to slump dramatically atop her head. He grinned,

"How about this. Next time, we choose one of your brothers? I bet they'll definitely like it."

She looked up at him, and smiled seeing his grin. Maiko nodded excitedly,

"Okay!"

He set her on the floor, and rustled her hair before she ran out of the room. InuYasha looked at Kagome,

"All three of them."

"Like you didn't help spoiling them." Kagome said, coming out of the bathroom with a wet cloth.

She walked up to him, and began to wipe the lipstick from his face. Kagome smiled up at him,

"She's just really creative, you know that. Paper and crayons won't cut it."

"Neither will my face." he said.

Kagome laughed, and then took his hand, taking him into the bathroom. He hopped onto the counter, and watched as she got some stuff to help get the lipstick off. This had happened once before, and he had a feeling it'd become routine. The downsides to being a heavy sleeper.

"So," Kagome started, as she started working at his face, "I thought you worked today."

InuYasha looked down into her eyes, "I wanted to stay home today. That a crime?"

"No, it's just a bit weird." she said. "It's kind of out of the blue."

Hearing her say that, he remembered the previous night. That Muso guy, and the fact it's obvious he's going to start trouble. InuYasha could've gone to work, but he knew he'd just be worried about Kagome and Maiko. He did not want a repeat of what'd happened all those years ago.

Kagome could see the frown on his face. She focused on getting as much of the lipstick off as she could. When there was a barely noticeable red tint, she dropped the cloth into the sink, and then asked,

"Did something happen?"

"Don't worry about it." he said, hopping off the counter.

Kagome watched as he headed back into the room. She asked,

"It's obvious something's bothering you, InuYasha. Telling me not to worry about it isn't going to work."

InuYasha huffed, and then glanced at her. After a second, he walked over to the door, and closed it. InuYasha walked back over to her,

"You're only going to start freaking out when I tell you."

"I'll be fine. You're not meant to handle everything on your own, InuYasha." she said, searching his eyes.

He sighed, walking over, and plopping down onto the bed, "You remember Naraku, don't you?"

Kagome's heart felt like it just burst right out of her chest. She retorted,

"H-he's back!?"

"No, he's not back." he said. "You're freaking out already."

Kagome frowned, and walked over, sitting beside him. She turned toward her,

"That's not exactly a good place to start the conversation, InuYasha! Don't scare me like that!"

"Alright, alright. Quit your yapping." he replied. "Naraku had family. We thought he was on his own, but he had family. There was a meeting yesterday, which I wasn't invited to. There was a reason though. The bastards name was Muso Onigumo. He claims he's Naraku's brother."

"What'd he want?" Kagome asked.

InuYasha looked at her, "He wanted to merge with our company, but both Sesshomaru and Father told him no. When he left, he was saying all this weird stuff, and obviously he's going to do whatever he can to mess with the company. That's not what I'm worried about, though."

Kagome felt her blood run cold. She clenched her hands,

"Masato. He knows about Masato, doesn't he?"

"Yeah." InuYasha said. "He does."

"What are we going to do?" Kagome asked.

"Simple. Make sure he doesn't get close enough to tell him anything."

Kagome looked at him like he'd grown another head, "InuYasha, that plan's going to crash and burn, and you know it. We have to talk to him. I'd rather he heard it from us than a stranger. We can't keep it from him for forever."

"You may feel you can't, but I will." he said.

"InuYasha!"

He retorted, "This is Masato, Kagome. Do you really think he'll be any less pissed that we kept this from him?"

"Learning it from a stranger? He'll be even more pissed!" Kagome tried to reason. "Don't you understand? If he learns he has people that are closer to his family than us, then they can manipulate that. If _they_ tell him, then he may not trust us again. Please, InuYasha."

InuYasha looked at her. He knew she had a point, but this was one thing he hoped they'd always be able to avoid. Regardless, Masato may not trust them after this. InuYasha asked,

"Aren't you worried about him wanting to meet Kikyo?"

Kagome's eyes saddened slightly, but she didn't look away, "If he wants to meet her, then I won't stop him. I only want him to be happy."

InuYasha took her hand, and pulled her into his arms, "You're such a goody two shoes, Kagome."

She hugged him, "No I'm not."

"Keh."

Kagome gave a small smile, "When do we tell him?"

"I don't know. Soon, I guess." he replied.

She nodded. There was a knock at the door, and before either of them could do anything, Kazuya called,

"We're heading to school. See you guys later!"

Kagome called, "Have a good day!"

Not long after, she heard the front door slam. Kagome sighed. InuYasha kissed her forehead, and then her cheek,

"Relax, Kagome. We'll figure it out. We've been through worse."

She smiled up at him, and nodded. InuYasha gave her a kiss on the lips, and then stood,

"I'm gonna take a shower."

"Okay." she replied.

When he went into the bathroom, she got up, and was about to leave the room to take Maiko to eat her breakfast. Kagome was stopped by the sound of vibrating. She looked over to her nightstand, and saw her phone flashing. Kagome walked over, and picked it up. The screen flashed, Kita's name was on the screen.

"_Does she know_?" she thought to herself.

Kagome glanced at the bathroom door, and then left the bedroom as she answered the phone.

**A/N: I was going to continue it onto their school scene, but Identity (like If Loving You Is Wrong) isn't doing as well as I'd hoped. So I'll keep the updates short, but try and update sooner. Maybe. Thanks for reading. Please review...**


	4. Decisions, Decisions

**Identity**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own InuYasha!

**Chapter 4: **Decisions, Decisions

* * *

"Hey Kita." Kagome said into the phone when she answered it.

"Hey." she replied. "I'm going to be blunt. Did InuYasha talk to you about anything? Something insane, and unimaginable?"

"If you're talking about Muso, then yes." Kagome replied. "Just now, actually."

"What are you going to do?" she asked with a heavy sigh.

Kagome shook her head to herself as she peeked into Maiko's room to see if she was there, but she wasn't.

"I'm not sure myself. InuYasha was pretty adamant about not telling Masato, but we can't keep this from him for long. If we don't tell him, _someone_ will. A complete stranger, and I don't want that." she explained as she headed to the living room.

Maiko was sitting on the floor in front of the television, a crocheted doll held tightly in her arms. She looked over at Kagome when she heard her approach.

"Ready for some breakfast, Mai?" Kagome asked with a smile, extending an arm to her.

Maiko got up, and took her mother's hand, "Can I have wuffles today, Mommy?"

"Sure." Kagome said with a smile, leading her into the kitchen.

"Is that my little Koko I hear?" Kita said into the phone happily. "Tell her I said good morning, and that I love her!"

Kagome laughed, knowing how excited she got whenever Maiko was around, "Mai, Aunt Kita said good morning and that she loves you."

Maiko looked up at her, and called, "I love you too!"

"Gah! She even sounds adorable! You have to take a picture for me when you can!"

Kagome laughed, "I'm sure you have more pictures of Mai than I do at this point, Kita. You probably have more pictures of her than your own kids."

"Nah. It's still pretty equal. It's hard to get pictures of them, but I _get_ them." Kita said.

Kagome didn't need to see it to know she was grinning. She laughed, and shook her head. Kagome got Maiko her booster seat and put it in one of the seats, and then helped Maiko into it.

"Alright, let me fix your waffles for you." Kagome said.

She grabbed the carton of orange juice Kazuya had drank, and made a face when she found it completely empty. Kagome looked at the glasses near the sink, and it was obvious they hadn't been used.

"No matter how hard I try, Kazuya and Masato turned out to be slobs when it comes to food just like InuYasha." Kagome said with a sigh.

"What can ya do? There were days it was just him and the boys, Kagome. It only takes an hour for InuYasha to corrupt a kid." Kita teased. "Sesshomaru could lecture and scold Yukio all he wanted, but even he turned out to eat similarly to InuYasha."

Kagome laughed, "Uh...sorry?"

She got the box of waffles from the freezer, and then started to prepare it for Maiko. After a short silence, Kita started talking again,

"Back to what we were talking about before. You said you were worried that Masato would be told by a stranger. Well, you have every right to be worried..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kagome asked, putting the plate of waffles in the microwave, and then turning it on.

Kita replied, "Apparently, Bankotsu is making some other kid the captain of HADIT this year. His name is Hakudoshi Onigumo."

For the second time this morning, Kagome felt her blood run cold. She leaned back against the counter,

"This can't be happening. What if he tells him something?"

"I think he has plans to somehow manipulate that information, but not just yet. Muso is his guardian after all, and it's become clear to Sesshomaru, InuTaisho, and InuYasha he's going to try and mess with the company in some way. When? That's a good question. Until then, I don't believe you have to worry. Still. I'm assuming this Hakudoshi found a way to conceal his scent, because I'm sure he smells similarly to Masato. The both of them being related, and whatnot." Kita replied. "Anyway, if you two plan to tell him...maybe you shouldn't wait too long."

"Yeah." Kagome ran her fingers through her hair, trying to calm down, but her heart only seemed to pound harder against her chest. "Thanks for the info."

"No problem. I'm here if either of you need anything."

"Thanks." Kagome replied as InuYasha walked into the kitchen, drying his hair with a towel. "I'm going to feed Maiko now, so I'll talk to later, okay?"

"Okay. Talk to you later, Kagome."

With that, Kagome hung up, and then sat her cell phone on the counter. The microwave went off and Kagome opened it, taking out the plate. She got a fork out, and then began to tear the waffle apart into small pieces. InuYasha asked,

"Who was that?"

Kagome grabbed the syrup, and began to pour it onto the bits of waffles, "Kita."

"Oh, don't tell me you went, and told her everything." he said.

She got a spoon for Maiko, and then brought her plate over to her, "She called me, for your information, and she already knew. She had more to tell me, actually."

"Like what?" he asked.

Maiko clapped her hands happily as Kagome set the plate before her, "Tank you, Mommy!"

"You're welcome." she replied with a smile, pulling her hair back from her face so she didn't get any syrup on it.

Kagome knew that was impossible, but she could hope.

"Kagome?" InuYasha asked.

She turned toward him. Kagome walked over, and took his hand,

"Let's talk in the living room."

"What for? Mai isn't going to understand a thing we're saying, and it's not like she won't hear us from there." he grumbled.

Kagome shook her head, "Like you, she isn't paying attention to anything but her waffles. She won't focus on listening to anything that isn't around her. You know how she likes repeating things she hears, right? You've taught her a few bad words already."

He grinned, "Oops?"

Kagome shook her head, and then sat down on the couch, "Kita told me that Yukio isn't going to be the captain of HADIT this year. Bankotsu chose someone else. Hakudoshi Onigumo."

InuYasha's grin fell into a frown.

"Well damn it all." he said. "Of course there'd be someone around to try, and get close to Masato. Maybe we should call him out today."

"Kita doesn't suspect they plan on involving him yet." she replied. "I don't think we have that long, though."

InuYasha sighed, sitting beside her, and then slumping back against the couch, "I guess we don't have a choice at this point. Whether we tell him or not, he'll find out from one of those sneaky bastards."

Kagome was silent for a minute, thinking to herself.

"I have an idea." she said. "You'd agree that everyone...well, excluding your brother, supports Masato, and loves him, right?"

InuYasha looked at her, thought about it, and then shrugged, "They've all held something against him at one point, but now I guess so. Kita, even though she's still refusing to be his psychologist, has helped all she can. What are you getting at?"

"I think if he knows that this doesn't change anything, then maybe he won't be as upset. Especially with his brother, cousins, and friends there." Kagome replied, but sighing when he still looked at her weird. "A dinner, or something. Some sort of get-together."

"You really think Masato is going to want to hear this around all of them, Kagome?" he asked. "He doesn't even like talking to them about his schizophrenia."

She sighed, thinking about it, "Yeah. You have a point. What if...what if we just have a dinner before we sit down, and tell him? Our family dinner's are usually chaotic, but fun for everyone, right? I...just don't want this to be as hard of a slap in the face as it's going to be. I want him to know we've only done what we thought was best for him, and that we still love him."

InuYasha could see Kagome was worried. Of course she was. She was going to tell Masato, who she'd raised as her son for seventeen years, that she wasn't his mother. At least InuYasha could tell him he was definitely a part of him, but Kagome wasn't. The thought of how he'd react was probably terrifying. InuYasha sighed,

"Alright, I guess we could do that. I don't know if it'll help, but I don't see why not. He's usually happy when they all go out, so this shouldn't be any different."

Kagome smiled, "I'll call Kita back, and then Sango. I'll let you know."

He grinned and nodded, "Alright. Don't let this get to you, Kags. I'm positive Masato won't view you any differently."

"I hope so." she said, but smiling nonetheless.

InuYasha leaned forward, and then kissed her on the lips. Kagome kissed him, but soon pulled away to rest her forehead against his. She looked up into his eyes,

"And InuYasha...I know you stayed home because you're worried, but you don't have to be. I'm not that same defenseless human, you know. I have control of my miko powers, and I can protect Maiko and myself."

"You're a miko, sure, but you're still clumsy as hell." he replied.

Kagome frowned up at him, "And with this clumsiness, I survived quite well."

He laughed, "Barely."

Before she could argue with him, InuYasha kissed her again. Kagome forgot almost immediately what she was going to say, and kissed him back.

**Shikon High: Lunch**

Everyone decided to have lunch off-campus at a nearby pond. Masato and Kazuya were still going on about the fight that'd be happening in less than an hour.

"Would you two shut up about it?" Iva asked. "You're not helping."

Yukio snorted, "Let them talk about it all they want. I'm winning, and it'll happen under ten minutes."

"So you need ten minutes to defeat him?" Masato joked with a grin on his face.

Yukio glared, but it fell a moment later, "Say whatever you want, Masato. I'm taking ten minutes on this guy, because obviously he's going to be a good opponent. Versus my fights with you that are at least five minutes, or less."

Everyone laughed. Masato retorted,

"When hell freezes over! There's never been one fight where you've beaten me in five minutes. You must be talking about when you fight your sister, because I believe she's kicked your ass in less than two."

"Ooh!" Kazuya said loudly.

Yukio went to say something, but Iva interrupted, "I'd choose your next course of words wisely."

He started talking despite her words of warning, "Kiyomi has only beaten me a couple times, and it's always because I underestimate her. If I actually take her seriously, she's not that hard to beat."

"I have a lot of stories, big brother." Kiyomi said slowly as she played with a leaf from her spot under a tree. "If you like, I could also include the many more where Father beats you in less than a picosecond. Whichever you prefer."

Yukio glared at her, and then looked around when everyone was staring at him curiously. He laughed,

"She's exaggerating."

"You're right. I am exaggerating." Kiyomi said, now tearing the leaf in half. "It was an attosecond, or higher. Perhaps faster than light itself? It wasn't pretty to say the least."

Masato laughed, slapping the wooden table the rest of them were sitting at, "See, this is why I love you Kiyomi. You're a lot like your asshole of a father, but you at least have a sense of humor."

"Sense of humor?" Yukio repeated with a snort. "That was pure maliciousness. There's no such thing as humor to her and my father."

"Like you, and Aunt Kita are any better." Kazuya said with a grin. "Neither of you can tell a joke to save your life."

Iva ran a hand over her face, Renata laughing it up beside her.

"Do you guys just enjoy messing with each other?" Iva asked, looking at the three boys.

"Yes." they said in unison.

She shook her head. Nori asked, glancing at her brother who was preoccupied with his phone at the moment,

"Why don't you ever join in on the usual arguments, Natsu?"

He looked up, and smiled at her, "I don't see the point."

Masato scoffed, "Oh, please. If the girls weren't here, you'd be going on and on about some new fantasy you have."

"Fantasy?" Iva repeated, narrowing her eyes.

Natsu retorted, "I don't know what he's talking about. I don't have _fantasies_."

"Oh, that's right. You live them whenever you grope some girls butt." Kazuya said, laughing.

Iva sighed, "I think I liked the conversation better when we were talking about the fight."

"Me too." Renata and Nori agreed.

"Okay, fine. Let's get back to the fight then." Masato said with a growing grin on his face. "I say we all lay down some money."

Kazuya questioned, "You mean...real money?"

Masato cut his eyes at his brother, "No, Kazuya, fake money, because we can buy just about _anything_ with it. I'm sure no one will notice."

"Well I'm broke, so don't look at me."

"Broke? Broke how? You don't do anything!" he retorted.

Kazuya eyed his brother, and then huffed, rustling his bangs in his face, "Fine. I'm only betting ten bucks. On Yukio, of course."

"Fine, bet whatever and on whomever you want." he replied. "Me, however...I'm betting Hakudoshi."

Yukio looked at his cousin, but only grinned in response to this, "You're a cocky bastard, Mas. You honestly think I'm going to lose to this guy? You don't even know him."

"Hey. Things could turn in my favor, and besides. Don't you need a reason to fight hard?" He asked.

"Fine. Go ahead everyone. Be honest. Who do you think will win?" Yukio asked.

Renata smiled, "I'm betting on you Yukio. Ten bucks."

"I'm in! Ten on Yukio!" Nori said.

Yukio grinned widely, "Hear that, Masato?"

"I do, actually, and I think it calls for us all to make this more interesting." he replied.

Yukio asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean take this further. Make it more than money." Masato said.

"Guys, you are all taking this a bit too seriously. Are we really going to gamble over this fight?" Iva asked.

"Don't be such a party pooper, Iva." Natsu said with a grin. "If we're making this more interesting...Kiyomi."

He looked over at her to find she was already looking at them all with interest. Natsu smiled,

"Who do you bet will win?"

Kiyomi narrowed her eyes at him. Barely a minute later, she replied,

"My brother will win."

"Then I bet Hakudoshi." Natsu said. "And my bargain is if Yukio loses, you become my practice partner for HADIT."

Kiyomi looked at Natsu, and exhaled heavily. She got to her feet,

"My brother has been trained by the strongest demons, my grandfather and father. He won't lose."

"See?" Kazuya said. "You guys are going to be ten dollars short."

"It's still worth a shot." Natsu said with a smile.

Kiyomi looked at him before walking down the path, heading back to the school. When she was far enough away, Nori looked at her brother,

"Was that supposed to be some sly way of asking her to be your partner?"

"Well, Kiyomi's a rather difficult person to get through to, isn't she? If I just asked, she'd just ignore me.." Natsu said.

"Why do you want to be Kiyomi's partner?" Iva asked. "She'll probably break something."

"Do you really even need to ask why?" Nori asked, smiling widely.

Iva looked at her, and sighed, "This is giving me a bad feeling."

"Hear that, Yukio? Natsu's trying to make moves on your sister." Masato said with a grin.

Natsu stood, holding his hand up, "No I'm not. I'd just like to be her partner this year is all."

"Whatever. I'm not going to lose, so you're going to have to think about someone else to partner with because she isn't going to willingly do it." Yukio said as he also stood, grabbing his bag.

"You'd be better off negotiating with Renata. She's her usual partner, and if you-"

"Don't even." Renata interrupted. "As if I could talk her into being your partner. You're on your own."

Natsu shrugged, "I'm confident I'll be just fine."

Yukio was about to turn to leave, but stopped and looked at him "Confident in what exactly?"

"Uh," he gave a laugh, "I mean I'm confident in convincing her to be my partner."

Yukio gave him a one over, "I'm watching you, Tsuyu, but you better know that my father will be watching even closer."

"No need to worry! Promise." he replied.

With that, Yukio started to head back. Everyone else followed soon after.

**Gymnasium**

Bankotsu had just finished setting up the gym for his next class. He'd been edgy and irritable all day. Bankotsu had made the decision the previous day to have Hakudoshi be the captain of HADIT this year, but he knew Yukio would convince him into at least letting there be a duel to determine who was stronger. No matter what he tried to say, Yukio had something else to argue, so he just caved. Regardless of the winner, Bankotsu's decision still was not going to change.

Bankotsu was brought out of his thoughts when a buzzing sound began to go off. He shoved the rest of his sandwich in his mouth, wiped the breadcrumbs from his hands onto his pants, and then grabbed his cell phone from his desk. Bankotsu pressed talk, and then pushed the phone to his ear,

"Hello?"

"Bankotsu."

He sighed, immediately knowing the voice. Bankotsu took in a breath,

"What's up, Sesshomaru? I'm going to guess right off the bat this is about Hakudoshi."

"You should have contacted me as soon as you knew." he said.

He laughed, "Was I supposed to assume you'd care? I mean, I know everyone's past with Onigumo, but the only person I thought I should contact was InuYasha. The issue with Masato, and all. What's he to you?"

"Muso Onigumo. He is a detachment of Naraku, and is plotting something against my company. I've no doubt this boy is somehow going to tie the half-breed into this. Tell me what your intentions are for him."

Bankotsu leaned back into his chair, frowning up at the ceiling. They were plotting something against the company? He forgot about his questions for now, and replied,

"Well, I agree with you that Hakudoshi may try to tie Masato into this, so my intention is to prevent that as much as I can. As well as from telling Masato the truth. I want to prevent that until InuYasha and Kagome tell him. That's if that's the route they're taking. Hakudoshi came in yesterday, and introduced himself without any hesitation. He knew who I was, and immediately I knew something was up. I expected him to attack me, or something, but he simply told me he knows of HADIT and was going to participate in it. Taken off guard, it took me a while to really catch up with all that he was saying. I know Yukio is usually the captain, but I wanted more than anything to be able to keep an eye on him when he's around Masato. Keep him away from him if I could. I couldn't deny him the chance to get on the team, but I _could_ put him in a position where he's mostly around me rather than any of the other members of the team. So I made him the captain. However, Yukio found out yesterday, and started demanding he duel for the position. I don't know what this kid is capable of, but I'm pretty sure Yukio will defeat him easily."

There was silence on the other end. For a minute, Bankotsu thought he'd hung up, but Sesshomaru finally replied,

"I will speak to Yukio. Keep an eye on Hakudoshi."

Bankotsu was a bit surprised, but it left as soon as it'd came, "You're only worried about the company. Do you even care if Masato finds out?"

"That is a problem for InuYasha. Not me."

The next thing Bankotsu heard with the dial tone. He hung up himself, and laid his phone on the desk.

"Well, I don't see the point in this fight today, but better at least give Yukio the satisfaction of proving he's stronger than him." he muttered.

The bell rang faintly overhead, and Bankotsu got up. He yawned,

"Alright. Lets get this over with."

**A Few Minutes Later**

Bankotsu stood out on the court as everyone came from the locker rooms, and to the bleachers. As usual, most of the class had chosen not to try out, and choose the study hall. Literally, the only ones there were just enough to make up a team. Despite who tried out, it was always the same group, and he knew it was partly the reason so little people even tried out.

"_But hey...it makes my job easier._" Bankotsu thought.

Yukio, Masato, Iva, Kazuya, Kiyomi, Natsu and Nori. They were very skilled kids. They hadn't just grown up together, but they trained together. It never surprised anyone if they were chosen over anyone else. Today, though, there was a new addition..

Once everyone was out and settled, Bankotsu began,

"_Surprisingly_, we have the right amount of people to make this years HADIT team. So congrats to you all. Normally, we'd get right to training, but..."

He looked at Yukio who was already getting up, and heading down to the court. Bankotsu looked at Hakudoshi who grinned, and watched as he descended the stairs.

"Before we get started, I shouldn't have to remind either of you that we're in a school. This isn't a duel to the death, so refrain from using your full forms...and play fair." Bankotsu said.

Yukio grinned, "I won't even get angry, Bankotsu. My true form wasn't an option that even crossed my mind. As for the playing fair part...well, I promise not to embarrass him too much."

Hakudoshi laughed loudly, making everyone look at him. He stood up, smirking as he walked down the bleachers,

"'Pretend inferiority, and encourage his arrogance' seems to suit the mood of this fight perfectly. I can almost see exactly how it will end."

"Fuck you." Yukio said without a moment's hesitation.

Bankotsu sighed, "Remember what I said, Yukio."

"I heard you, Bankotsu." he retorted.

He sighed again, and then walked over to the bleachers. The other six had moved down to the first bleacher to get a better look. Bankotsu sat at the end of it beside Renata. She looked up at her father,

"You sure this fight is a good idea? Yukio doesn't exactly like to follow rules..."

"Yeah, I know, but I think things will be fine." he reassured, smiling at her.

Renata nodded, and looked toward Yukio and Hakudoshi. They stood before each other. The room seemed to get colder as they both got into their fighting positions. Renata glanced at Kiyomi, who sat beside her, and saw that she looked at the two with boredom. This made her relax in a way. Kiyomi had absolute confidence in her brother. He would win. Renata smiled, and let out a sigh.

"Alright, Yukio! Let's do this!" Kazuya shouted.

Masato smirked, his red eyes constricting as he looked at the two, "This is going to be fun."

**A/N:** **Bleh..**


	5. The Fights

**Identity**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own InuYasha!

**Chapter 5:** The Fight...s

* * *

The gym was filled with silence, and the air was thick with anxiousness. Yukio watched Hakudoshi closely. He stood there, staring at him with a dumb, smug grin on his face with his hands in his pockets. Everything about this guy agitated him, and nothing would make him happier than getting this opportunity to put him in his place.

"What are you two waiting for?!"

Yukio looked over at Masato who was looking at them both with bored expressions.

"You guys just gonna stand there, or start…"

Yukio felt something nearing toward him quickly, and jumped back. He growled,

"Is that how it's going to be, Haku-"

When he looked up, Hakudoshi was not in front of him. Yukio felt a hand on his shoulder,

"All is fair in love and war, Yukio."

Yukio turned his body quickly, his leg nearly making contact with Hakudoshi's head. Not letting up, Yukio brought his hand up, and then merely moved it toward Hakudoshi. A seemingly green glowing, long whip came from Yukio's index finger. He shot toward Hakudoshi, and caught him around the wrist. Yukio yanked back, and brought him back toward himself forcefully. As soon as he was close, Yukio took the chance to punch him as hard as he could right in the face. That made Hakudoshi fall back on his back. He sat up, and rubbed his cheek,

"Owww. That hurt."

"Then maybe you should try actually fighting back!" Yukio retorted as he went to grab him.

Hakudoshi leaned back, placing his free hand back on the ground, and flipping back. He landed on his feet,

"Have you not been paying attention, Yukio? What did I say before the fight started? You're already getting so cocky."

Hakudoshi continued to caress his cheek, but grinned nonetheless.

"I suppose it's hard to avoid when your father's cocky in his own way. That's what you hate so much, right? Or no…is it just his attitude toward others?" he asked, looking toward their audience on the bleachers.

"Keep my father out of this. Why are you even bringing him up?" Yukio replied, following Hakudoshi's gaze to the bleachers to see them landing right on Iva.

She blinked back at him curiously. Yukio sneered,

"_Just what the hell is this guy doing_?"

"Keep your attention on me!" he yelled, jumping toward him.

Yukio's palm was now engulfed in a faint, green misty light. Just as he was descending upon him, Yukio saw Hakudoshi's grin widen. Hakudoshi raised his arm, allowing Yukio to grab at it. The poison began to burn his arm.

"Yukio, easy." Bankotsu called.

"No, no." Hakudoshi said, looking at Yukio. "_This is exactly what I wanted_. _You're doing all the work for me, Yukio, I appreciate it_."

Yukio's eyes widened when he heard the thoughts suddenly intrude his mind. Hakudoshi laughed, and then took advantage of Yukio's moment of surprise. He punched him in the stomach hard, forcing him to stumble back.

"Yukio!" called Iva.

Masato laughed, "Oh, come on, Yuki. You're getting your ass kicked so early in the fight? What a disappointment."

"Shut it, Masato!" Nori yelled. "You're not helping."

"Aw." Hakudoshi cooed. "Everyone's so worried about you. Especially...Iva, was it? It must bring you joy to hear the girl you-"

"You sure enjoy talking, don't you? I thought this was supposed to be a fight. Not a lecture." Yukio replied, straightening his posture.

Hakudoshi laughed, "This is hardly a lecture. Hm...and here I thought you were more confident than this. Shame on me."

He sighed.

"I suppose it's time I get serious, huh?"

Yukio snorted, "You mean you're actually going to fight, and not just touch me and read my thoughts?"

"We'll see." he replied with a smirk.

Yukio took a step forward, but Hakudoshi disappeared. He spun around, catching Hakudoshi's wrist just in time. Yukio brought up his leg, and then kneed him in the stomach. Hakudoshi stumbled back, and let out a gasp. Yukio frowned,

"This is the worse duel I've ever been apart of. Bankotsu."

He looked toward the bleachers.

"How is _this_ garbage captain material?"

Bankotsu's eyes narrowed slightly in the direction he'd left Hakudoshi, and then he sighed. Yukio turned to find a fist rushing toward him, fast. It crashed right into his face, sending him a single step back, but Hakudoshi did not let up. He grabbed Yukio by the collar, pulling him forward, and then punching him in the face again with his free hand.

"Never turn your back on your opponents, Yukio. It seems your father hasn't taught you a thing." Hakudoshi said.

Yukio growled, rushing forward, and then slamming his forehead into the space between Hakudoshi's eyes. This forced him to release Yukio, who then returned the two punches to the face, and then did a roundhouse kick, which made perfect contact with Hakudoshi's jaw. The impact sent him flying back in a twist toward the ground. Yukio did not give him time to recover, within a second, he was at Hakudoshi's side again. He kicked him onto his back, and then leaned down with great force, his fist flying toward his face. Hakudoshi hadn't even flinched upon being kicked onto his back. His eyes had been shielded, but his face already quite bruised.

Just as Yukio's fist was about to make contact, Hakudoshi's hand rose and caught it. A small frown appeared on Hakudoshi's face; his bangs fell from his eyes as he glared up at Yukio,

"That is enough."

Yukio felt something like a vibration go throughout his body, and his eyes widened. Hakudoshi pushed Yukio's fist back, making him punch himself hard in the face, and then punching him himself with his other hand. Once Yukio was back, he jumped up onto his feet, and began to charge toward him. Yukio sneered, and then swung at Hakudoshi. He easily dodged, though, and teleported right behind him. Yukio ducked Hakudoshi's grabbing hands, and then flipped his body back enough to do a handstand. His legs dropped onto Hakudoshi's shoulders; Yukio then leaned forward, and tried to launch him off. Hakudoshi managed to prevent that by grabbing onto Yukio's legs, and merely landing on his back.

Yukio released him, rolling backwards, and then jumped up onto his feet. Hakudoshi was there as soon as he was on his feet, and sending a slew of punches at his face.

"_What's the matter, Yuki? You seem to be lagging a bit._"

Yukio growled softly, easily dodging and brushing his punches aside, "_Get out of my head._"

"_Would you prefer I spoke aloud? To be quite honest with you, I'm only doing this so I can be discreet, because there's something I must say. I really don't like you. In fact, I hate you. I hate your entire family, and I'll do whatever I can to make them all miserable. I can start by taking Iva for myself. Sounds like a plan, doesn't it? Oh, how I'd love to feel her nails raking down my back._"

"I'll kill you." Yukio growled.

His fingers flexed, and the green mist appeared in his palm once again. Yukio moved quickly, and with infuriating effort, he finally managed to catch Hakudoshi along his arm.

"Yukio!" Bankotsu yelled, standing.

Hakudoshi laughed, and stared at Yukio with wide eyes, "Are we drawing blood now? You've made this fight ten times better."

Steam seemed to rise from the three long, bloody claw marks going down Hakudoshi's arm. Blood dripped onto the gymnasium floor.

"I'm stopping this." Bankotsu called. "I don't know what's going on, but it ends now."

"No. Stay out of my way." Yukio said, a look of pure disgust on his face as he wiped blood onto his jeans.

"I will not _stay out_ of it. I'm not here to watch a duel to the death. This was supposed to be a simple spare. That's it." Bankotsu retorted.

Hakudoshi glared, "You will stay out of this. Yukio and I. We're not humans. A few scratches, and some poison won't kill me. I assure you."

Something faint could be seen forming around Hakudoshi. The skin around the claw marks seemed to bubble up, and soon the wounds were gone. As if they'd never been there.

"See?" Hakudoshi smiled over at everyone. "Good as new."

The faint outline of whatever had surrounded him, vanished.

"Hakudoshi," Bankotsu started, glaring, "I don't care who you are. I _am_ in control here, so you _will_ do as I say."

"Oh fine." Hakudoshi said with a sigh. "We'll calm down, alright? I promise. Is that good enough for you?"

Bankotsu didn't respond. He looked at Yukio; his back began to relax, and the irritation and rage that'd been on his face a moment ago, had left his face completely. His eyes were hard and cold, and his face somewhat paler. You'd think he was a statue standing the way he was. Despite how calm he looked, Bankotsu didn't feel any better. It just meant Yukio was a lot more serious. He looked exactly like his father, and when Sesshomaru was staring someone down like this, it usually meant business. Fatal business.

"Yukio?" he asked.

Yukio gave him a side glance, "Would you prefer I have this fight unadvised? It would make no difference to me."

Bankotsu sighed, "_There he goes_."

"Fine. Continue..." he replied.

Everyone watched from the bleachers with shaking heads, and different expressions. It was hard to keep up for those that were human, but most of it was basically dodging for a while. A few times, one of the other would get a hit, but it didn't seem to phase either of them. Renata sighed heavily,

"Dad, how long do you think this fight will be? I was sure Yukio would be able to end this easily. It'd be easier if they both could use their true strength, don't you think? And why did you get so anxious over some blood? Bleeding is inevitable in HADIT's _real_ fighting, anyway."

Bankots glanced at her, "Yes, but this is a fight of hostility. HADIT's fights are between two people. Each respects the other. Yukio has no respect for Hakudoshi, and vice versa. What do you think this fight would lead to if there was no one here? Someone would end up dead."

"I don't understand why you gave Hakudoshi the captain position. You could have easily avoided this." she replied.

He sighed, "I wish…"

Renata studied her father. What did he mean by that? She was going to ask, but a loud slapping sound caught her attention. She focused back on the fight to see Hakudoshi with an outstretched hand toward Yukio. Hakudoshi laughed, waving his hand,

"Did I accidentally slap you instead of punch? My apologies."

Yukio didn't say anything, he just went after him once again. Hakudoshi easily dodged, though, taking slow steps this way and that way. It was almost as if he were dancing with him. Hakudoshi smirked,

"_What a disappointment. You've made me reduce myself to acting like I'm fighting a woman. Pitiful. Perhaps this is how it'll be with Iva? Surely there'll be a time it comes to that. She seems rather feisty, I might have to force her to be with me. Then again, women are easily swayed by charm. Something many of you Takahashi's don't have._"

"_You will not distract me with this topic any longer. Shut up, and-_"

Yukio, within a second, managed to get behind Hakudoshi, and then grabbed him by the hair, throwing him to the floor,

"Stay down!"

"But the fun would end then." Hakudoshi retorted, getting back to his feet. "_You say that topic won't bother you any longer, but truthfully...I just need to tweak it. Perhaps the one I should be going after is the baby girl. Kiyomi Daiana Takahashi. Beautiful name, isn't it._"

Yukio growled, jumping up, and kneeing him right in the jaw. Hakudoshi stumbled back, a bit of blood streaming from his mouth, but he smiled nonetheless,

"You bastard, you made me bite my tongue."

Yukio frowned, and then started at him again. Hakudoshi set back into his usual charade,

"_Your sister was the second person I met on my first day here. She was rather rude, but bold, courageous, and so very sexy. You're right. I should definitely go for her. She's more my type. I'm always looking for a beast to time_."

Yukio growled loudly, his eyes flashing red. His facade was so easily being unraveled.

"_She'd be even better than Iva in bed. Rather than ordinary nails, she'd have claws. I'm shuddering at the mere thought. Perhaps I should even go a step higher. Your mother actually has experience, wouldn't you say? Don't you want another little brother or sister, Yukio? I could be the Father you've been looking for._"

Hakudoshi grinned when he saw a look of pure rage appear on Yukio's face. His calm guise was destroyed, and that was exactly what Hakudoshi wanted. Yukio's eyes were completely red now, and his mouth seemed to begin to widen. His fangs enlarged, and then his hair seemed to grow longer. Bankotsu yelled,

"Alright, that's it! Yukio, calm down!"

"This will be where you lose, Takahashi! I won't give you time to transform!" Hakudoshi spat.

He jumped at Yukio, punching him in the face, and then kneed him in the gut. When Yukio gave a small step backwards, Hakudoshi dropkicked him to the ground.

"Hakudoshi!" Bankotsu shouted.

Yukio almost managed to easily get back to his feet, but Hakudoshi pounced on him. Without a second to waste, he began punching Yukio savagely. Despite the many times Yukio's teeth bit at Hakudoshi's hands, it didn't stop him from punching. Blood spewed from several gashes in Hakudoshi's hands, and from the cuts that Hakudoshi was putting on his face. Hakudoshi laughed louder with each strike he made. His laughs were cut off when a fist came out of nowhere, and punched him extremely hard in the face. A pop could clearly be heard by anyone standing nearby.

Hakudoshi sat up, clutching at his jaw. He glared, and looked up to see none other than Kiyomi. Hakudoshi expected wide, red eyes like her brother, but she was completely stoic. No rage, no fear, nothing. He grinned, and then swiftly pushed his dislocated jaw back into place. He flinched slightly, but the expression of pain soon fell from his face. Hakudoshi got to his feet, and smiled,

"Will you be the next Takahashi I defeat? I won't go easy on you because you're a girl. Careful, though. I have the tendency to cut clothing off."

A soft hiss escaped her lips. Hakudoshi took a step toward her, but Natsu stepped up beside her,

"It's done! Didn't you hear what Bankotsu just said? Back off!"

"Stay out of this." Kiyomi said, glaring at Natsu.

He glared back, "So you can what? Kill him? They don't let demons get away with it either, Kiyomi. Let it go. You're going to get hurt. Let Bankotsu handle it."

She glared more at him, but turned away abruptly, and walked back toward Yukio. Iva, Kazuya, Nori, and Bankotsu surrounded him. He sat up on his elbows, slapping everyone's hands away from him,

"I'm fine! And I'm not done with him!"

"Yes you are!" Bankotsu yelled. "Whether you like it or not, win or lose, the position will not be yours to take! Your father was supposed to tell you later, but I thought it'd be okay to let you fight. You've fought, and now it's over. This duel is finished."

"What are you saying?" Yukio asked. "Was all this just for kicks?!"

"It doesn't matter now." he replied, standing. "Are you going to be alright?"

"Yes." Hakudoshi said, approaching the group. "Are you going to be alright? I'd hate to find out I broke anything."

"You piece of shit!" Yukio growled, jumping to his feet.

Kazuya and Natsu grabbed him, holding him back.

"Come on, Yuki. Stop letting this guy piss you off!" Kazuya yelled.

Bankotsu stood, and looked at Hakudoshi, "Get out. Now."

Hakudoshi studied his face, and then shrugged, "Fine, but before I go, I get to name my co-captain, right?"

"Now is not the time-"

"Masato." he interrupted.

Masato, who'd just been standing back and watching all of this with a vaguely amused look on his face blinked up at him,

"Huh?"

"You are my co-captain, and therefore my partner. Do you agree?" Hakudoshi asked.

Masato grinned, "Why would I refuse?"

"Then that's settled." Hakudoshi replied, and then looked at Yukio who was glaring hard at him. "I guess I'll see you all another day."

When he was out of the gymnasium, Kazuya and Natsu released Yukio. Iva looked at him worriedly,

"Yuki, your face. Maybe you should go to the-"

"Shut up." Yukio sneered, wiping some blood from his face. "I'm not like you weak humans. I will heal within the hour."

Iva frowned, but said nothing more. She clenched her hands into fists at her sides.

"Come on, Yukio! Don't take your frustration out on Iva." Kazuya snapped.

He glared, "Then leave me alone."

"Aw." Masato cooed as he walked up to him. "Somebody got their ego bruised up pretty badly, and now he's throwing a tantrum. Somebody better call Kita. She's a therapist. She can help."

"Masato." Bankotsu warned. "Knock it off."

"What?" he asked with a laugh. "Why should I try and sugar coat anything? It was a hella good fight, but Yukio...you got your ass beat in the end."

Yukio's hand raised, and he backhanded Masato across the face. He sneered,

"I don't need anyone patronizing me. Especially a half breed."

"Yukio!" Iva exclaimed.

Masato's head had turned with the slap, and his shoulders tensed. Within seconds, his hands began shaking. Masato growled, and looked at Yukio. Nori stepped up to him, and grabbed his arm lightly,

"Masato, calm down. H-he didn't mean it."

Renata slammed her foot down, "Alright, that's enough! What's his being a half demon got to do with anything?! You saying _I_ can't say anything to you either?! Or Kazuya?! You got your ass kicked, and that's the end of it! Don't you dare start lashing out at the rest of us for your pathetic defeat!"

"We're done." Bankotsu interrupted, speaking up before anyone could say anything. "I want you guys to stop this right now. If this is how things are going to keep going, there will be no HADIT. I'm beginning to rethink having it this year for Shikon High. Anyway, Yukio...take a walk. Calm yourself down."

"Dad!" Renata half whined, half hissed. "You're going to let him get away with what he said?!"

"Renata." he said, exasperated by this point.

She clenched her jaw, and then exhaled heavily. For a brief moment, the gym was completely silent. Iva looked around nervously,

"Ma-maybe we should all take a walk."

She looked at Nori, glancing at the exit. Masato looked as if he'd snap at any minute. Nori looked up at him, and tugged his arm slightly,

"Uh, lets go outside, or something…"

She tugged him along. The rest left toward the hallways. When the doors slammed shut, none of them went any further. After a minute, Iva began to rock on her heels. She looked at Kazuya, who was looking at Yukio with a hard look, and then Renata, who was obviously fuming; she had her back to everyone, and her arms were crossed tight. Natsu stood beside her, speaking under his breath, probably trying to console her.

Then there was Kiyomi; she stood at her brother's side, examining his face. Iva opened her mouth to say something, but Yukio beat her to it,

"How much longer are you going to stare, Kiyomi?"

"You lost." she replied. "You lost bad, Yukio."

"Do you want me to slap you too?" he asked with a glare.

Kiyomi was unphased by his threat, "What a pain, big brother. Not only did you lose, but you went out of your way to make yourself look like a spoiled brat. Kudos to you, but shame to the Takahashi name."

"As if I care. Go be a sarcastic bitch to someone else, and leave me alone." Yukio said, pushing past her, and beginning to walk off down the hall.

He shoved his hands into his pockets as he turned the corner. Iva sighed heavily as she looked down the hall he'd just disappeared down. She looked at Kiyomi to find that she was already half way down the opposite direction. Iva whimpered softly,

"_This is really bad. Less than an hour, and _this_ has happened_."

She took in a deep breath, and then chased after Yukio.

"You going to be alright?" Natsu asked, glancing after Kiyomi as she walked off down the hall.

Renata huffed, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just need a minute alone, okay?"

"Sure. Try not to go punching any lockers, okay? Promise me?" he said, giving a reassuring smile.

Renata gave a small smile back, and nodded, "Promise."

With that, Natsu chased after Kiyomi. Renata rolled her eyes,

"_He's always trying to be every girls knight in shining armor. Not sure how that'll work out with Kiyomi…_"

"You sure gave Yukio hell."

Renata looked back to see Kazuya, and smiled. She showed him a fist,

"And I'd do it again!"

He laughed, and then sighed, "I should probably go after Masato, but I guess Nori can handle it. She's better at calming him down than me."

"Yeah...I guess it's just you and me now." Renata said, looking up at him to find him looking in the direction Iva had left. "Or you could go after Iva, and help her make sure Yukio doesn't go smacking anymore people."

"Nah, uh, let's go see what your dad is doing." he said, and then heading into the gym before her.

Renata sighed softly, and then followed after him.

**With Masato and Nori**

"Masato, wait!" Nori yelled, trying to keep up with his quick pace. "I didn't say we should leave the campus!"

"I'm not making you come along. Go back." he retorted.

Nori pursed her lips, "No! I'm not leaving you alone."

"I don't need a babysitter; go back!" he argued.

Nori yelled, "Masato!"

"Nori!" he yelled back, stopping and glaring at her.

She didn't back down. Anyone else would have been frightened by those wild red eyes of his, but she was used to them. Masato scoffed, turned, and then continued to walk off. Nori walked along side him, trying her best to keep up with him in her flip-flops,

"I know you're angry, Masato, but you shouldn't take what he said to heart. He was just upset."

"Keh! He smacked me, Nori! I hear the half breed bullshit everyday." he retorted.

Nori nodded, "Well, still! He was just upset, and you were being a big meanie!"

Masato stopped, making her bump into him, "There's a lot of mean bastards in the world, Nori, and he can't just go around smacking whoever he wants! He's not a fucking god! He's lucky I didn't smash his damn face in!"

He continued walking. Nori sighed, chasing after him once again,

"But you didn't, and I'm glad! It was partially your fault, and you know it. You should have supported him, not teased him."

"Give me a break." Masato grumbled.

Nori panted, "Would you please stop power walking already!"

Masato stopped abruptly again, making Nori run into him, and this time fall back onto her butt.

"I told you to go back already. I don't need you tagging along." he retorted.

Nori winced, and rubbed at her elbow, "But I don't want to leave you alone. I'm not trying to babysit you, you bulldozer!"

"In that case, stop lagging behind. Sheesh. You'd think someone trying to be popular all the time would keep a diet." he muttered.

"Ugh!" Nori got to her feet, and jabbed him in the chest hard. "Are you calling me fat, Masato?! Because if you are, you're the worst! That's not a nice thing to say!"

"I didn't call you fat. You're overreacting." Masato said with a roll of his eyes.

"I am not."

"You are too."

"I am not!"

"Yeah, you kind of are."

"You're...you're such a jerk, Masato!" Nori yelled, her bottom lip quivering at this point.

She bit her bottom lip, and looked down. Masato looked at her,

"You better not start crying, Nori. I didn't call you fat! And so what if you were? That'd be your business, not anyone else's."

"I'm not crying." Nori said, pouting.

He snorted, "Yeah, okay."

"I said I'm not!" she protested.

Masato stopped closer to her, and pushed her bangs up. He brought his other hand up, and ran his thumb across her cheek. Masato showed her his wet thumb,

"Then is this sweat? It's not even that hot out here."

"Not much coming from a dog." she mumbled.

"Act your age, would you? I didn't call you fat, I said!"

"I heard you!" she yelled back, rubbing at her eyes.

"Then quit your blubbering."

"I'm not blubbering."

"Fine, whatever. Let's go."

Masato grabbed her wrist, and dragged her along.

After a bit of walking, they came to a convenience store, and bought some drinks before slowly making their way back toward the school. After taking a sip of her water, Nori looked over at Masato, and looked at the cheek Yukio had hit. Noticing her staring, he glanced over,

"What is it?"

"Are you feeling better?" she asked. "It doesn't hurt?"

Masato looked forward, "Hurt? He didn't stab me, Nori."

"He might as well have, right?" Nori asked, focusing forward again. "He hit you, and then insulted you."

"It's not like it's his first time. He's just lucky this time I didn't pounce on him." Masato growled. "Damn idiot. Getting so upset over some fluke fight. If he just kept his cool, he would've won easily."

Nori blinked at him, "Says the guy that was rooting against him...or were you discreetly giving him a confidence boost?"

"Hah!" Masato grinned over at her. "What do you take me for?"

Nori smiled back, and then drank more of her water. She walked a bit toward his way, and playfully bumped his arm,

"You've come so far, Masato. I'm proud of you."

He looked at her curiously, "What are you talking about?"

"Normally, you would have jumped at Yukio, but you controlled yourself. I'm proud of you." she replied.

Masato laughed again, "Not really an improvement. I just don't waste my time fighting guys with wounded egos. It's a waste of time, and a lot less fun than fighting him when he's actually focused on winning."

Nori rolled her eyes, and then shook her head, "Boys."

She went to drink more of her water, and Masato grinned. He reached over, and pushed the bottle up further. The water went over her face, and over the front of her shirt a bit. Nori gasped, and then began to cough. Masato burst out laughing,

"Gosh, Nori. You should really slow down."

Nori yelled, "MASATO!"

He laughed harder. Nori frowned, face turning slightly red. She rose the bottle up, and poured out the rest of the water all over his head. He just kept laughing, and she groaned,

"Ugh!"

Masato grinned, "Ugh, you too."

Nori crossed her arms, and walked ahead. He smiled, and then shook his hair out, getting rid of some of the water before following after her.

**With Natsu and Kiyomi**

"You're not angry at Yukio, are you?" Natsu asked as he sat beside Kiyomi in the empty courtyard.

She looked at him, "Why should I be angry? It is his ego that was ruined by that loss, not mine."

"He called you a sarcastic bitch." Natsu reminded.

Kiyomi yawned, lying her head on the wooden table, "I am a bitch...and I can agree I'm sarcastic. Wouldn't you?"

"You're not a bitch." Natsu disagreed. "Just...blunt."

"No, I'm a bitch." she replied.

He blinked at her, and then started to laugh, "Honestly, Kiyomi. I can almost never tell when you're joking."

"A joke?" she questioned. "I was not joking."

"I'm going to believe that you were." he replied, lying his head down on the table so that he was at eye level with her. "I bet you were a little mad."

Kiyomi scooted a bit away from him, and looked elsewhere, "Like I said-"

"I mean because Hakudoshi was beating on your brother." he interrupted. "You dislocated his jaw."

Kiyomi didn't say anything, and he smiled.

"I'm curious as to how Sesshomaru will react."

Kiyomi reverted her gaze to him, "My father? Mm...it would go without saying. The only reason my brother lost was because he allowed himself to be vulnerable. It's disappointing, and pathetic. He's been taught better, but then again...Papa and Father always had to lecture him about something during training."

"I think a lot of people think of Yukio as Sesshomaru, or even your grandfather. They taught him a lot, I'm sure, but that doesn't mean he wants to be exactly like either of them." Natsu replied. "His fighting style, and even how he acts is a lot different from them."

"Yes. He's acting like a teenage boy with raging hormones. I suppose that's to be expected." Kiyomi replied.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes; it was no comfortable silence, though. Kiyomi had gone back to looking out over the small plain beyond the courtyard, but she could not focus on anything. She could feel Natsu's gaze on the side of her face, and it was beginning to make her shift uneasily. After another agonizing long minute went on, Kiyomi began to get up, but she stopped when she felt a hand grab hers. She felt her back unwillingly tense right up.

"Kiyomi." Natsu started.

She didn't turn around, "What is it?"

"I don't mean to pry so soon, but all of this does mean that you'll be my partner, right?" he asked.

Kiyomi looked back toward him as he finally got to his feet. She looked up at him,

"Your partner?"

"Yes." he smiled. "I mean partners for HADIT."

Kiyomi took her hand from his, "I...knew what you meant."

"So is that a yes?" he asked.

Natsu looked at her hopefully, but sighed when she gave no answer and headed back into the building. He smiled nonetheless, "_She's so cute when she's uncomfortable_."

"Hey, Kiyomi! Wait for me!" Natsu chased after her.

**With Iva and Yukio**

"Yukio, won't you stop, and talk to me?" Iva asked hesitantly.

"Talk about what?" he asked.

She shrugged, "Anything. It doesn't have to be about...well, you know."

"Nah, I'm fine. Why don't you go with the others?" he asked.

Iva sighed heavily, "_Why must he be so stubborn?_"

They walked in silence for a bit; Iva was going to start talking again, but didn't get the chance when a door closed loudly, and a voice whispered loudly after Yukio. They both stopped, and looked back to see Seika (Yukio's girlfriend) leaving her classroom and chasing after them. She stopped in front of Yukio, and smiled,

"Hey."

"Hey…"

Seika glanced from Iva to Yukio, "So...how'd the fight go? Did you win?"

The hallway filled with an awkward silence. Iva began to rock on her the ball of her feet again.

"You...lost? Seriously?" Seika asked. "That's pretty lame, Yukio, and here I thought you were the strongest boy in the school."

"Don't say that." Iva spoke up. "You...you don't know what happened."

"Iva." Yukio looked at her. "Would you...just go away?"

She looked at him, "I wasn't going to say anything, Yukio."

He turned away, and continued down the hall. Seika gave Iva a once over before smiling, and then going after Yukio. Iva frowned, and then turned, going in the opposite direction.

"_Fine. I won't worry about you then._"

When Iva turned the corner, she collided right into someone's chest. She stumbled back slightly,

"Oh! I'm sorry, I wasn't…."

When she looked up, Iva met the grinning face of Hakudoshi.

"Oh...it's you." Iva muttered.

He sighed, "Oh, don't be that way. Your friend challenged me, remember?"

"You didn't have to be so ruthless against him. We're supposed to be a team." Iva argued.

Hakudoshi held up his hands, "I get it, you're right, and I apologize. I get a bit carried away in fights. Especially against those that tend to, you know... try to kill me."

"You did something to make him angry, so I don't blame him. My question is what _is_ it you did?" she asked.

Hakudoshi just smiled. Iva frowned, and took a step back,

"It doesn't matter. Just don't cause anymore trouble."

"Of course, m'lady." he said. "And may I say you look very beautiful today, Iva."

Iva couldn't stop the blush from rising to her cheeks. She gave a small, awkward nod before walking past Hakudoshi, and heading back to the gymnasium.

**A/N: So, about this story not being so long…..well, it actually might be. I have no regrets, though. I hope you all will enjoy the ride regardless. **


	6. The Square

**Identity**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own InuYasha!

**Chapter 6: **The Square

* * *

The gym was quiet and pretty much empty. There was twenty minutes before the bell would ring, and no one had gotten back yet. The only one's sitting in the bleachers was Renata and Kazuya. Neither really said anything, but Renata found herself constantly glancing over at him. He was doing some homework. Well, more like just staring at it. Kazuya looked like he was in deep thought. Renata had a pretty good guess just who he was thinking of. She shook her head, and then gave him a poke. Kazuya blinked, and then looked over at her,

"Huh?"

"So...you ready for HADIT this year?" she asked.

He shrugged, "It's going to be an interesting year. It's Masato and Yukio's last year. Too bad Yukio doesn't get to be captain. I bet he wanted it all to end with him being absolutely at the top."

"Only at what he considers important. He's not even valedictorian." Renata replied. "If you ask me, I think this will be a good lesson for him."

"A lesson?" he repeated.

She nodded, "Yeah. Just because he's demon doesn't mean he's perfect, nor does it mean he gets the right to walk all over people."

"You're still mad about that?" he asked with a laugh.

Renata frowned, "Of course I am! You're half demon too. Why aren't you angry?"

"Because it isn't his first time. You gotta learn to let that stuff roll off your shoulders, ya know?" he shrugged.

She crossed her arms, "Oh, that's right. You're more concerned with making sure he doesn't hurt your crushes feelings."

Renata watched as Kazuya's face lit up bright red. He dropped his head, letting his hair fall into his face as he stared down at his notebook. Kazuya laughed nervously,

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about." Renata retorted.

She moved closer to him, sitting on the bleacher right below the one he was sitting on, and studying his face. Renata hesitated, but pushed herself to ask,

"You like Iva, don't you?"

His dog-ears seemed more alert as he looked down at her. As if he were afraid someone was listening on their conversation. Kazuya asked,

"What makes you think that?"

"Cut the crap, Kazuya." she said. "It's written all over your face whenever she's around. You're always staring at her, and trying to make her laugh, and making sure she's okay-"

"No offense, Renata, but what's it to you?" he asked, studying his notebook. "Why are you getting defensive about it?"

She blinked, and leaned back a bit, "I-I'm not. Nevermind. It's none of my business."

Kazuya looked up at her, and gave a grin, "You're as nosy as ever. Curiosity killed the cat, you know."

"Ooh, I've never heard _that_ one before." she said, not helping but to smile back at him. "Since we're cracking jokes, want to hear one?"

"Sure you want to even try that with me? We all know I'm the best joker of the group." he said.

She waved her hand, "Just listen."

"Alright." he said, propping his elbow on his knee and rest his chin in his hand. "Let's hear it."

Renata smiled, "How do you keep a dog from smelling?"

He blinked at her. Before he could open his mouth, Renata leaned over, and grabbed his nose in between two fingers,

"You hold its nose!"

"Ow! Let go!" he said in a loud, nasally voice.

Renata laughed, "Make me!"

He gave her a playful grin, and stuck his tongue out, licking her palm.

"Ew!" she exclaimed, yanking her hand away.

Kazuya grinned.

"That's gross. I don't want your dog drool. Here, take it back!" Renata stood up, reaching over and trying to press her hand into his face.

He laughed, "Hey! Cut it out."

Kazuya caught her around the waist, using this opportunity to tickle her sides. She let out a loud laugh, falling into him, and wrapping her arm around his neck.

"You always play unfair! Stop!" she giggled into his shoulder.

Kazuya laughed. Before he could say anything, the sound of the gymnasium door slamming caught both of their attention. Iva stared up at them both with a raised eyebrow. Renata looked back to realize just how close she now was to Kazuya. She felt her face heat up, and let go of him, standing up completely.

Kazuya didn't seem to notice anything, and he smiled at Iva, "Hey. How'd the calming Yukio down thing go?"

"He's as stubborn as ever." Iva shrugged.

"I'm sure he just needs a minute to cool off." Renata said. "He _did_ lose. What do you think Sesshomaru will say?"

Kazuya made a face, "That's a good question. I don't think he'd care if no one told him."

"He comes to see some of the matches. Sesshomaru will find out." Iva said, walking up the bleachers and sitting beside Kazuya. "Besides, Yukio isn't going to keep it from him."

"True." Kazuya said. "He didn't say anything else mean to you, did he?"

Iva shook her head, "Just to go away. Seika showed up, so he probably wanted some alone time with her."

"Well, she's his girlfriend after all." Renata said after a short silence.

Iva looked at her. For a second, Renata thought she saw an irritated expression, but it was gone before she could think that was what it'd been. Iva smiled,

"Yeah, you're right."

"Then again...," Renata started, looking at her with a smile, "Seika's one of those girls that like the most popular guys, wouldn't you agree? Maybe they'll have a fight and break up."

Iva blinked at her, "What makes you think that'll happen?"

"It probably won't." Kazuya said, stopping Renata before she could start. "She's the first girl I've seen him date this long. I think he really likes her."

Renata frowned at him to find he was already giving her dirty looks of his own. Iva looked between them,

"Uh, are you two alright?"

"Whatever." Renata sighed heavily, and then stood up. "I'm going to get changed."

They watched as she headed down the bleachers to the girls locker room. Iva asked softly,

"Did you two have a fight, or something?"

"No, what makes you think that?" he asked, grabbing his notebook and stuffing it back into his bag.

She raised an eyebrow, "Well, you were glaring at each other."

"You know Renata likes talking about stuff that's not her business." Kazuya said. "We shouldn't gossip, right?"

Iva nodded, "Yeah, you're right."

He smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"You're lucky these are my gym clothes, Masato."

Everyone, excluding Yukio, walked into the gymnasium. Kazuya gave a sigh seeing his brother seemed to be calm, and not covered in bruises from some fight he'd picked. He stood up,

"We should get changed ourselves."

"Right." Iva followed him down the steps.

When she came up to the others, the first thing she noticed was that the front of Nori's shirt was soaked. She asked,

"What happened?"

"Masato was being an immature jerk, and tipped my bottle of water while I was drinking." Nori said, pouting.

Iva sighed, "Masato."

"Oh give me a break." he said, heading toward the boys locker room. "She was the one yapping, so I tried to...cool her off."

Kazuya grinned, "_Or_ to see her bra."

Nori gasped loudly, looking down at her shirt, "Can you see it?!"

Masato snorted, "Bra? She wears bras? She doesn't even have boobs. They're more like...mosquito bites."

Nori turned bright red. Iva put her hand on her sister's head, "Don't. Lets just go get changed."

She frowned, but followed without protest.

**The End of the Day**

By the time the end of the day came, Masato began to notice people looking at him more than usual, and it was beginning to agitate him. Had someone saw what'd happened in the hallway between him, and Yukio? It was that, or one of his _friends_ went off the mouth about it to someone. He wouldn't put it past Kazuya.

Masato brushed it off once he reached his locker. He didn't care, because it won't come close to the defeat Yukio had. Masato grinned,

"_I wouldn't be surprised if he went home early. What a pansy._"

"Masato."

He looked over to see Kazuya standing beside him. Masato glared,

"Did you go running your mouth off, Kazuya?"

"Whoa." he retorted, holding his hand up. "Why are you so quick to assume it was me?"

Masato just stared at him.

He sighed, "I only told one person. As if I'm the only one, though! I bet one of the other's had as well. Besides, who's to say Hakudoshi didn't go around telling people?"

"Not the point. _You_ should've kept your trap shut." Masato slammed his locker shut. "Anyway, do I need to come pick you up later? Is there baseball practice today?"

"Nah. I'll catch a ride with Iva. She has volleyball practice today, and Natsu has baseball practice with me so it makes sense." he replied.

Masato shrugged his bag onto his shoulder, "Nori doesn't have softball practice today?"

"I don't think so, why?" he asked, a small smile on his face.

He glared, and then shook his head, "I was just asking. Whatever, I'm heading home now. See you later."

"Wait." Kazuya followed after him. "I have a question. Are you really going to team up with Hakudoshi for HADIT? You and I both know that fight wasn't fair. Hakudoshi was manipulating Yukio somehow. He kept bringing up Iva, and during the fight...wasn't it weird how Yukio would suddenly get so pissed?"

Masato snorted, "Fair? Seriously, Kazuya. If that's your mindset, you're going to bring us down this year. All techniques are allowed except transformation in HADIT. The only person at fault here is Yukio. He let Hakudoshi manipulate him. I did think it was a fluke fight though, because if Yukio had adjusted to Hakudoshi's fighting style, he would've won easily."

"What technique does he have?"

Masato shrugged, "I don't know. Go ask him."

Kazuya stopped following him, and huffed. He should've known he wouldn't know much himself. Masato was the one that'd most enjoyed the fight, though, so he figured he'd know something. Kazuya was about to head to the baseball field when he heard Masato call him again. He looked over his shoulder to see his older brother grinning. Kazuya frowned,

"What's with that face?"

"Just wanted to remind you to use protection. Well, that's to say if something actually happens between you and Iv-"

"Masato!" he shouted.

Kazuya's blood had ran cold, and then it all shot to his face, making his head look like a tomato. People glanced at the both of them as they passed curiously.

"Grr." Kazuya growled, and then looked around for something the throw.

Masato turned and hurried off down the hall, laughing. People continued to stare at him. Kazuya felt like his head would explode any minute now. He turned, and hurried toward the back of the school where the baseball field was. All the while, cursing his brother for almost causing unnecessary rumors to spread through the school.

**XxX**

Meanwhile, Masato was headed toward his car in the senior parking lot. He frowned when he saw a person leaning against it from a distance. As Masato got closer, he noticed it to be Hakudoshi.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

Masato unlocked the doors, and then threw his stuff into the trunk.

"You're my co-captain. I thought we should chat." he replied.

Masato looked at him, "Oh, well, usually we have meetings sometime soon, but I suppose that's going to change now."

"It doesn't have to. Is it Yukio that set up the meetings?" he asked.

He shrugged, "It varied. Usually it was Iva. She's kind of our...secretary."

"Oh, her. Is she only that? She's not a part of the team?" Hakudoshi asked.

Masato gave him a look, "She's a part of the team. Iva just likes to take control of things so we're on track."

"What's so special about this girl? Is she also Yukio's groupie?" he asked.

Masato laughed, "No, but close enough, I guess."

"What do you mean?" Hakudoshi blinked at him curiously.

He waved his hand, "Forget it. Look, you're the captain now, so you figure it out."

"Fair enough." Hakudoshi reached over, and stuck his hand into Masato's pocket, taking out his phone.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

He smiled, "Calm down, brother. I'm just going to give you my number, and get yours in return."

"There's an easier way to do that, asshole!" Masato sneered. "And don't call me brother. I don't know you. As far as I'm concerned, you should've lost that fight today."

"You and your _friends_," Hakudoshi started as he tapped away at Masato's phone, "are so on edge. Do I have to remind you who challenged me? I was given the position. What was I supposed to do? Submit?"

Masato thought about it, "No...I guess not."

"Exactly." Hakudoshi outstretched his phone to him. "Onigumo's don't submit to anyway."

Masato looked into his lavender colored eyes, and then took his phone back, "You're a weirdo, man."

"I'm sure you're no more normal than me." Hakudoshi grinned. "In fact, we're probably more alike than you think."

Masato just looked at him for a bit, before opening his car door, "Yeah, sure. Whatever you say."

Hakudoshi stepped back as he settled into his car, started it up, and then drove off. His grin widened as he watched the car leave the parking lot. Hakudoshi took out his phone, and then added Masato's number into his contacts.

On his way home, Masato found himself biting at the claw on his thumb. For some reason, that conversation he'd had with Hakudoshi had bothered him. He wasn't nervous, scared, or even agitated. It was a strange feeling, and Masato wasn't even sure how to cope with it. As he waited at the stop sign, he looked in his rear view mirror to see Hakudoshi heading back into the building.

**With Hakudoshi**

When he entered the building, Hakudoshi found Bankotsu waiting for him with a glare on his face. He sighed,

"More glaring. Just when I thought my day would be getting better."

"We need to talk." Bankotsu retorted, turning and heading down the hall.

Hakudoshi smiled, "Right behind you, coach."

Bankotsu brought him to the gym where he knew they'd be alone.

"So what is it you wanted to talk about?" Hakudoshi asked.

Bankotsu frowned, "I saw you talking to Masato. What did you say to him?"

"Relax. I'm sure if I'd told him that I was his brother, he'd leave with a lot less finesse." he said, a grin growing on his face.

Bankotsu glared, "I'm watching you, Hakudoshi. I don't know what it is you're planning, but-"

"I'm sure I'm the last person you should be watching." he said with a smile. "Like, perhaps, your surroundings."

Hakudoshi looked toward the bleachers to see Renata sitting up from her place in between two bleachers. She was looking at the both of them with wide eyes. Bankotsu's eyes were just as wide.

"You would've been better off talking to me in that hall." Hakudoshi said with a laugh. "You humans are too hilarious. I swear you do something dumber every day."

Bankotsu sighed heavily. He'd completely forgot Renata would be here waiting to go home. Bankotsu cursed under his breath.

Hakudoshi sighed, "Like I said, relax. I'm not going to tell him. Not directly, anyway. He'll find out all in due time. Whether they tell him in a more planned fashion, or not, Masato won't trust any of you in the end."

He looked over at Renata, smiling, and giving her a wink before leaving the gym. Bankotsu glared after him. When he was gone, Bankotsu looked over at his daughter,

"Renata."

"That guy is Masato's brother? I don't understand. What did he mean?" Renata asked, getting up.

Bankotsu sighed again. He supposed there was no getting out of this. Bankotsu looked at her,

"Come on. I'll tell you on the way home."

**Later That Evening**

"No, I'm not going to say anything. Stop asking." Iva said, grabbing her gym bag.

All of her friends huffed, and mumbled under their breaths.

"Well, one of you guys already did blab about it; we figured it wasn't that big a secret anymore. Everyone already knows Yukio lost." one of the said.

Iva looked at her, "None of you know what really happened, though. Can you please not talk about it? It's just going to spread more rumors."

"He deserves to get exposed. Yukio's nothing but a player, anyway."

She sighed heavily, "I'm heading home. I'll see you guys later. Enjoy your weekend."

Iva heard a variety of farewells as she left. As she walked down the dim hallway of the school, she pulled out her cell phone, and turned it on. No messages, or calls.

"_I wonder if Natsu and Kazuya are done with practice yet_." she thought.

Iva walked out to the senior parking lot, and toward her car. When she got there, she put her phone on the trunk door, and shifted through her bag for her keys. Iva unlocked the doors and put her stuff in the passenger seat, and then shoved the key into the ignition. She slipped out of the car again, and walked back toward the trunk to retrieve her phone to find that it was no longer there. Iva frowned.

She peered down at the ground, but saw nothing. Iva leaned down, and looked under her car. Nothing.

"Where did it go?" she mumbled.

Iva huffed, and stood up. She turned to go see if she'd actually put it in her car, but ran into someone. Iva gasped and jumped. She took a big step back, and brought up her arms in a defensive stance. The person laughed. Iva looked up to see a pair of bright, amber eyes staring down at her. At first, she thought it was Kazuya, but this person was taller and had silver hair, not black. Iva glared into the dark, and then dropped her arms. She exhaled heavily,

"Yukio, you scared me!"

He grinned, his amber eyes seeming to glow with amusement as they stared down at her, "You really should watch your surroundings more."

Yukio held her phone out to her. She sighed again, and took it,

"I was just checking to see if Natsu had messaged me. What are you doing here? Isn't the football season over already?"

"Yeah." he replied, looking around.

Iva raised an eyebrow, following his gaze around them, "Okay...so, why are you here?"

"I was waiting for you." he replied.

She looked back at him, "For what?"

"I figured Kazuya and Natsu wouldn't be out here before so, so I came to wait with you." he answered. "Why so many questions?"

Iva blinked at him, "Well, it's almost seven, Yukio. You came all the way back to the school to wait with me? That sounds a bit strange, don't you agree?"

"I just wanted to make sure you got home safe." he replied, finally looking back at her.

She was beyond confused now, but then she remembered. The fight between Yukio and Hakudoshi. Hakudoshi had continuously mentioned her name at random. About being worried for Yukio.

"_Could that be it? Well, it wasn't like he threatened me, or something. But then...why did Yukio, at one point, say that he'd kill him? Just what did Hakudoshi do?_" Iva came out of her thoughts, and looked at Yukio to find him staring at her quizzically. "What?"

"Well, you just had that look on your face. Like you were trying to solve some mystery." he replied.

Iva thought about it, and then nodded, "Sort of. It's about the fight you had with Hakudoshi. Unless you don't want to talk about it, still."

"It's fine." he said with a sigh.

Yukio walked past her, and then hopped up onto the trunk of her car. He patted the spot beside him. Iva walked over, and sat beside him. She looked at him curiously. Yukio took in a breath,

"Hakudoshi has the ability to read thoughts- no. He's able to find the place you harbor your darkest thoughts and feelings, and then manipulate them against you. It isn't just the dark things, though. Things you keep secret from even people you trust the most. I think he was able to do that to me once we touched. That's all he needs in order to get what he wants, and then use them against his opponent. He was in my head, saying things that he knew would infuriate me."

Iva studied his face, and asked, "And that's why you threatened to kill him? It must've been pretty bad...whatever he said."

He nodded.

"Did he threaten someone's life?" Iva asked.

Yukio shook his head, "No, but he might as well have."

Iva didn't say anything right away. She didn't want to pry but….what did Hakudoshi say that'd make him want to kill him?

"Was it about Kiyomi?" Iva asked. "She and Hakudoshi almost fought before after all, right?"

Yukio nodded, "Yeah...she was one person."

She watched him. Yukio was looking up at the night sky; he seemed hesitant about what he said. Iva sighed. For a while, there was nothing but silence between them.

"Iva?"

When he said her name, she looked over toward him, "Yeah?"

"Why do you nag everyone?" he asked.

Iva frowned, and crossed her arms, "I wasn't nagging. I was just asking questions. You basically told me I could ask, Yukio. If you want me to stop asking, then-"

Yukio laughed, "Wait, calm down. I'm sorry. I phrased that wrong. I mean...earlier. I pretty much insulted everyone, and made them all mad at me. You followed me, though, and tried to talk to me. Why?"

"Because you're my friend. One of my closest friends, Yukio, and I was worried. I was hoping I'd be able to help, but I guess not." she said with a shrug. "I suppose I am the nag of our group. I can't help it. I just want to make sure everyone's okay, and are on the right path."

He smiled at her, "That's one thing I love about you the most. It's not a bad thing all the time."

Iva's eyes widened slightly, and then she looked down. For once, she hated her short hairstyle. The short curls did nothing to cover the blush on her face.

"Uh, thanks. I guess." she replied softly.

"That's why I wanted to kill Hakudoshi." he started.

Iva looked up at him. Yukio continued,

"He told me he wanted to feel your nails down his back, and the same for Kiyomi and my mother."

Iva looked at him with surprise, "He...what?"

"I wanted to kill him far more when he threatened you, though, because you're human. I know you were trained by someone experienced when it comes to demons, but you might not be able to defend yourself against him. You're a great fighter, I know, but still…" Yukio said, feeling like he rushed talked all of that.

He looked over at Iva to find a perplexed expression on her face. Iva didn't know how to process that, but it indeed upset her. She clenched her hands into fists,

"Of all the rotten things to say, how disgusting! What a pig! As if I'd let him lay a finger on me."

Iva frowned, looking at Yukio. A big smile came to his face, and then he laughed. She couldn't help but to laugh with him. Iva gave him a shove,

"It's not funny."

She smiled, "_I didn't think he'd be so worried about me._"

"Thanks, Yukio." Iva started. "For being worried about me, but really. I can take care of myself. I may be a human, but I did grow up training with demons, didn't I? Give me some credit."

"Yeah, I know but still." he said. "I plan to be here just in case."

Iva smiled, and just nodded, "I'm okay with that, I suppose."

Neither of them said anything else. For a few seconds, they just kept smiling at each other. Iva hadn't even noticed until Yukio moved closer toward her. She swallowed, and gave a nervous laugh,

"Uh, wow. It's getting really late. Maybe I should go look for Natsu and Kazuya. I didn't think their practice would be so long."

Yukio didn't lean away, "I'm sure they'll be out in a second."

"O-or not." Iva slipped off of the car. "You should head back home. By the way, did you tell your dad yet?"

Yukio made a face, and sighed, "I haven't been home, so no. I don't want to talk about that."

Iva took a step back when he slipped off the car, and stood right in front of her. She took another step back, and he took another forward. This continued until eventually, Iva ended up backed against his car that was parked right beside hers. Yukio had a very amused look on his face. She stammered out,

"W-what are you doing, Yukio?"

"I'm not doing anything. You're the one acting like a weirdo. Why do you keep trying to get away from me?" he asked.

Iva blushed once again, but this time it was a lot more fierce.

"W-what? I'm not. I don't…." she trailed off, knowing she must've sounded like the worst liar ever.

When Yukio flash his fangs at her in a grin, Iva felt a shiver go down her spine. She jumped and gasped when she felt Yukio wrap his arms around her suddenly, and then pull her close to him. He asked,

"Are you cold?"

Iva swallowed, her heart now pounding hard against her chest. She couldn't find the words to respond to that. Iva just shook her head. He asked,

"Then why are you shivering?"

Iva opened her mouth, about to bring her arms up to push him away, but a large part of her was just...rebelling. Her eyes widened when she felt Yukio lean down, his bangs tickling her cheek; he buried his face in the nape of her neck, and then took in a breath. Iva lost her breath for a moment when her heart skipped a beat.

After a while, Iva summed up the strength to push weakly against his chest, and whisper, "W-what are you doing, Yukio?"

"You smell nice." he whispered back.

His breath brushed against her neck, making another shiver go up her spine. Iva bit her bottom lip, and then responded,

"R-real funny. I'm all sweaty, as if I'd smell nice. Stop joking around. M-move."

"I thought you knew everything about demons, Iva. That only intensifies your original scent for a demon. So yes, you smell very nice." he said.

Iva felt his hold on her tighten. She couldn't find anymore strength to push him away. Who was she trying to fool? Iva relaxed a bit, allowing herself to rest her head against his chest, and breathe in his scent. He smelt faintly of a natural-scented soap and water. It was simplistic, but nice. Unlike other guys she's ever hugged who smelt of Axe or Old Spice. Iva felt his arms relax around her, and she couldn't help but to smile.

Yukio leaned away, but only slightly. Iva leaned back against the car. She expected him to notice her daze, laugh at her, question her, and then ask if she felt warmer. Or something. Iva had thought she was just thinking too deeply into all of this, but then she felt warm lips press against her own. Yukio's arm slipped from around her waist and went up, slipping into her hair.

Iva's heart was slamming against her chest at this point. After a few seconds, she relaxed and leaned up on her tip-toes, pressing her lips back against his. She brought her arms up, and wrapped them around his neck. Yukio's mouth moved against hers slow and tenderly. His fingers played with her curls, and his arm wrapped around her waist tightening and loosening.

The butterflies raging in Iva's stomach were out for blood, it seemed. She didn't know what to do with herself. Iva felt like she was living a dream.

"_Maybe because it kind of was...until now_." she thought to herself.

It only worsened, though. When Iva wrapped her arms more tightly around his neck, he deepened the kiss and sent her into a whole other world of wonder. Yukio dropped his hand from her hair, to cup the hollow of her neck. When his claws lightly brushed her skin, Iva began to feel her legs getting weaker and weaker. Her lungs on fire at this point, but she didn't want to stop. This was unlike any kiss she'd shared with a boy.

However, she didn't have to worry about stopping herself for much longer…

The sound of footsteps caught her attention, and she brought her hands up quickly, pushing Yukio away. Iva looked up at him, panting lightly, and he the same. She looked toward the school to see two silhouette's walking toward them. Another pair of golden eyes, albeit narrowed, staring at them. Iva felt her face beginning to burn.

"Iva."

She looked back to him. Iva dropped her arms, and moved away from him. She tried to catch her breath, trying her hardest to ponder over what just happened. Above all things that could have crossed her mind, the most important was that she reminded herself that Yukio had a girlfriend. Seika. The girl he's been with longer than most of his other girlfriend's.

"Um, I...um, they're here now. I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Iva said quickly.

Yukio took her wrist gently, "But Iva-"

"You have a girlfriend, Yukio. We...we shouldn't of let that happen." she said, looking downward, ashamed.

He frowned, tugging her lightly toward him, "Iva, I-"

"What's up, guys?"

Yukio looked at Natsu, who was eying the both of them with wondrous eyes. Iva pulled her wrist from Yukio's hand, and walked to the driver's side door.

"Let's get going guys." she said as she got into the car.

Natsu looked like he wanted to say something, but just shrugged and went to get into the car. Kazuya didn't move to join him, though. Yukio didn't notice. He sighed heavily, looking into the car while Iva started it up.

"Yukio." Kazuya said slowly, his eyes narrow.

Yukio pulled his eyes away from Iva, and to his cousin. Seeing Kazuya's face, he raised an eyebrow,

"What?"

"What were you doing just now?" Kazuya asked.

Yukio gave him a look, "What'd it look like? Kissing Iva."

"But you have a girlfriend." Kazuya retorted.

He looked at him, "Stay out of it. It's none of your business."

Kazuya scowled. Iva rolled her window down, and called,

"Kazuya, what are you waiting for? Let's go."

He didn't move, though. Instead, he took a step closer to Yukio and spoke softly,

"You can't just have every girl you decide you're interested in. Iva won't be your next plaything."

It was Yukio's turn to scowl. He glared, his amber eyes now cold and looking down on Kazuya as if he were an insignificant insect. Yukio replied in a low, but deep warning tone,

"You don't know what I'm doing. Keep your mouth shut, and stay out of it."

"As if I will." Kazuya retorted.

Iva called again, her voice pleading now, "Kazuya."

His scowl fell, and he turned toward the car, pushing past Yukio to go around the car and get into the passenger's seat. Yukio moved, and watched as Iva backed out. He sighed heavily as he watched it exit the parking lot. Once the car was out of sight, Yukio slowly made his way home. To the last person he wanted to see.

**XxX**

When Yukio pulled up, he didn't waste anytime getting in. He frowned as he unlocked the front door,

"_Who cares what he thinks? Not me. So what if I lost…_"

Yukio took in a breath as he pushed the door open, and stepped inside. Once he locked it behind him, Yukio was going to head upstairs, but down the hallway, he saw the light in his father's study on. He groaned internally, and set all his stuff down near the staircase. Yukio headed to his father's study, and then knocked. There was a short silence before he said he could enter.

Yukio took in another breath before pushing the door open, and walking in. Sesshomaru looked at him, and then back at his laptop,

"You're back late."

"Yeah." Yukio replied, sitting in one of the chairs. "I was waiting for Iva to come out. I wanted to make sure she got home safe."

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed slightly, "I did not realize you took up the responsibility of protecting a human."

"She's a great fighter, just...this Hakudoshi guy." Yukio replied, his leg beginning to shake up and down. "He threatened to hurt her, so…."

Sesshomaru stopped typing, and looked at his son, "Hakudoshi Onigumo. Speaking of which, I need to speak to you about your position. You won't be captain this year."

Yukio's leg stopped shaking, and he looked at his father confused. He sat up more,

"What? What do you mean I won't be captain?"

"I need him to be in that place. For reasons you need not worry about." he replied, and then going back to typing only to stop again soon after. "Unless I did not need to inform you of that at all. Why are you here, anyway?"

Yukio frowned. He felt like he was about to burst, but intertwined his fingers together, tightly. Yukio squeezed his hands together as he spoke in a strained tone,

"Did you want it this way before I fought him? Why is he so special? What's going on, Dad?"

"Like I said, you do not need to worry yourself with it." he replied, studying him. "I see. You lost."

Yukio shot up from his seat, "I didn't lose! He cheated! Tell me who this bastard is?! Why is he so important?!"

"Cheating." Sesshomaru repeated.

He sneered, "I don't need you to give me the real-life speech! I got pissed off, alright?! That's why I lost! I wasn't focused!"

"Why is it you feel the need to tell me? Do you want me to say I'm disappointed?" Sesshomaru asked, leaning back into his chair. "I don't have the time for such frivolous affairs. The battles you lose, and your weakness, are of your own business. With your irrational temper, it is no surprise to me."

"It was not irrational! And I am not weak!" Yukio yelled. "I'm strong!"

"Who are you trying to convince?" Sesshomaru questioned.

Yukio clenched his hands into fist, but let his shoulders relax, "Whatever. I'm going to bed."

Sesshomaru said nothing more, and simply went back to working as Yukio left the study, agitated. As he headed upstairs to his room, Yukio almost laughed at himself,

"_Why did I even bother making myself tell him. He doesn't care…_"

Once in his bedroom, he closed the door, and leaned against it. Yukio looked at his hand,

"_I guess I always expect him to be disappointed, in the son that grew up to be other than the one he wanted…._"


End file.
